Through Space and Time
by Loretta Fiorella
Summary: Dying, and being tossed into a soccer-loving world. I was pretty sure my brain had gone all wacko after it bang against the lovely cement. Now, Fate still like to juggle my life around by making me to stay in someplace called a Training Camp. Why do I have to team up with those people? Hold on, is this even real? [OC Submission Closed]
1. Dying, Transported, and Surprises

**A/N: **About time I'm writing something just to entertain the Publish tab. XD And well, yeah..er…since I'm still a newbie, I'm pretty nervous right now, with people reading my works…

A-Anyhow! I'm starting a OC Submission fiction. You're all free to join! But I'll have some rules and restrictions. Further details shall be at the bottom of the page. For now, please read my (crappy) Chapter 1 and share your opinions!

* * *

_Inazuma Eleven __© Level-5_

___..._

___Through Space and Time ____© Loretta Fiorella_**  
**

* * *

**CHAPTER O N E:**

Dying, Transported, and Surprises

* * *

Dying is _not _fun. Seriously.

I have no idea how people can readily give up their life (either they're really brave or just plain stupid, the majority are probably the latter), but dying is certainly not a way to do things.

You know how hero acted all brave and willingly risked their lives for the ones they love? Yeah, that. Their deaths are described as honorable and absolutely dramatic. They died for the sake of something, and then be content that they will be able to rest in peace. But little did they know, Death is not as forgiving as they thought.

I've always dreamt of dying and regret nothing. No problems to worry about even after my last breath and just...well, be at peace, I guess? Maybe a bit of sappy drama (like me jumping in and taking the gunshot for someone? That would be totally awesome. Well, not the part about being hit by a metal bullet, that hurt damn it!). At least by doing that I'd be able to make a name for myself.

But guess what? Fate hates me.

I swear it does. Instead of things going according to my brilliant plan (being a hero—er—heroine), I ended up dying in the worst possible way (No, not the horror kind when I got stuck in an accident and the car ran over me and...y'know).

Tripping on the stairs. I died.

Does that sentence needs more dramatic (too much drama today...) words to get the point through?

...

Probably not.

Back to my point. I tripped on the stairs, and supposedly ascent to heaven and live happily ever after since I really _didn't _do anything wrong. Maybe find a nice shade and just start sipping water while staring boringly at the white clouds. Perhaps boring, but not as boring as school (Schools are the imitation of hell).

That's what supposed to happen!

So why in the bloody hell did I got transported to the soccer-loving world in the form of a freaking 6 years old?!

* * *

So yeah. The first thing I see when I opened my eyes is white.

Like pure white, the same as a hospital room with the odor of newly constructed building. There was no other furniture beside the bed I was laying on. There was no window either. Except for a white door on the left corner.

I stared at the nothingness. Before my brain start clicking around until everything is absorbed.

"Oh hell no," I muttered. Immediately, I sat up and flipped the white sheet out of the bed, then moved to stand.

Wrong choice.

Instead of feeling the ground under my feet, there was only air. But I was in such a rush that I leap out of the bed as fast as possible in my panic state. As a result, I fell flat on my face and thus kissing the ground. Again.

Hello~ Nice to meet you again, floor! Even if you're the culprit of my death.

...

AS IF!

I sat up. Rubbing my abused red nose, and checking my body parts for any other injuries. But instead of finding bruises, I meet yet with another surprise.

"AJH#$*&YJHEWG5 $%W*&YHGBF—" I screamed. Of course who wouldn't when suddenly you feel like your arms have been cut to half its size? And what's with that high-pitched squealing noise?!

After another round of *couch*girly*cough* shriek, I managed to calm down (somewhat). I stand up, stretching my legs as far as possible, and I could barely see past the bed next to me.

How the heck did I managed to get even shorter?! I was already short enough, why did I still shrink, like, by 3 feet?!

I reached for my hair, feeling it. It was shorter, somehow. The raven color was still there when I pulled the hair in front of my face. I wonder whether my appearance changed or not. It's not as if a bang in my head would cause me to shrink to a child's height right? Right?!

Footsteps.

I was pretty sure my newly found voice was loud, because the soft padding of shoes against the floor are approaching this room. So this room wasn't soundproofed, eh?

I stood stiff in my position, eyes focusing on the white door at the corner. For a moment I considered the option of hiding, but then realized it would be useless now that I've did a screaming lesson in this room. And there was really nowhere to hide, even the hiding place under the bed was pretty obvious when a person step inside and look at the messy bedding. That and with my new size, the option of fighting was instantly crossed out.

The door cracked open, and standing at the doorway was a middle-man, I assumed.

His brown hair was combed back, and the sunglasses hid his eyes (which probably criticizing me) so I don't really know his eyes colors (why wear sunglasses in a building anyway?). He wear casual clothing which consisted of a white T-shirt, a brown jacket, jeans, and sneakers. In his hand is a clipboard.

If you asked me, I'd say he's an odd sight.

Still, I stared at him dumbly.

"I see the kiddie woke up," he said. Okay, I understood the part that I had shrunk for some mysterious reason, but a kiddie? That statement wounded what was left of my pride, damn it!

I glared at him, showing my dislike.

But he just shrugged it off (I needed to horn my death glares to make it even more intimidating, especially now I'm in this size). "Since you're awake, and it seems like you're pretty healthy considering how loud you were even in this room, I'll just get straight to the point and not fussing about your health which certainly is no concern of mine. Clear?"

Got that. My dislike to you had just excelled to intolerance as well. Thank you very much.

I nodded; I'm _so_ not going to talk to some stranger who just bluntly insulted me the moment we meet.

"Great, the brat gets it, save me some trouble..." He mumbled. I raised my eyebrow. Hello? Didn't you just said that you're going to get right to the point?

Finally he straighten up, still standing in the same spot, and began to speak.

"First of all, I trust you're aware of your...condition?" I gave an affirmative, I certainly was aware that my body had magically shrunk, no need for the pause. "...Good, because there's a reason why you've been turned into a 6 years old."

Surprise~ A man who I don't even have a clue as to who dressed in odd fashion just said that I'm young for my age. How kind.

Please note the sarcasm.

But really, a 6 years old?

"Hold on, 6 years old? What do you mean?" I asked, had my brain finally stop working?

_Now _it was his turn to raise an eyebrow (I'm sure he did even if he is hiding half his face behind that black glasses). "I thought you knew? Anyway, your body shrunk because you've been turned to a 6 years old. Why? Because it is the Rules when you were transported from your world to here, your body too must change in order to adapt to the new environment."

Hah?

"Wait, what rules? What world? Adapting to the new environment? How? I'm dead aren't I? Then it should be impossible th—" He cut me off by raising his hand, requesting for silence.

What in the blazes...? I was dead! I knew it when I experienced the sensation! This was supposed to be Heaven right? How could this even possible? It should be the ordinary sequence when I died, I go to Heaven or the Underworld, and spent my time there. So what's this about environment and rules? I shook my head frantically. I don't get it. I don't understand it, at all.

I have so many questions that were ready to burst out, but I let him continue.

"Answering your first question: The Rule of fitting in. In which you're given a new appearance and start a fresh beginning here in this world. As for who made the rules, it's a classified information." He answered the question printed on my face. Figuratively, of course.

"Second, yes, you're in another world different from your own. You must have some sort of connection to this world in order to be transported here. I don't know what it is though. But you'll be living here from now on. Don't worry, it's not as if we're going to let you stray out in the street, so you'll be staying with us."

I frowned and crossed my arms. Living, here? He said us. Who? But before that, is this even real? Or is it some sort of tricks my mind is playing in my head? Because I was sure that transportation through different worlds is an impossible task.

"You said 'us,' as in who?" I inquired.

The man sighed. "Let me start at the beginning, so that this whole thing would fit inside that little head of yours.

"As I said before, you've been transported to another world, where, according by the Rules, you're transformed into a 6 years old to adapt to the new environment. Of course, you're not the only one who was transported here.

"Though infrequent, other kids like your age when they were still alive died because of accidents. But they were given a second chance because well, you'll find out later, it is a complicated explanation for newbies like you. And then they were transported here, though some with the memories of their past lives while the majority have their brain wiped clean. You still sustained those memories of your past right?"

I nodded. Yes, I still remembered how I died and such. And my family too...

"Good then, less explaining," He _really _do want to get this over with huh?

"Anyhow, now that's some basic info about how you got here, we sh—"

"Where are we?!" I interrupted him. He seemed annoyed by the cut off.

I can't help it, these things are too new for me. Suddenly being thrown in another world (assuming that it's the truth) and was forced living here. It's all just...unreal. Plus, living in somewhere I don't know is just downright uncomfortable. I need the location, in case I decided to escape.

"_In case you are wondering, _this place here is a Training Camp. Where we train you kids to be accustomed to how this world works. Of course with a compensation, you'll have to work for us. But it is nothing you kiddies can't handle without the proper training. Foods, shelters, expenses, they're all free. You just need to follow orders and you get your life."

Now that explanation sounds a bit fishy here. Working for them? As in what? And I still don't know where this place is on the globe!

I voiced out my questions, it seemed like the man who I-still-do-not-know-the-name-nor-do-I-even-wanted- to was almost running out of his patient.

"Since this world is rather simplistic, you'll work in teams with others and do things that we asked you too. And if you disobey, your life here is finish." The unspoken threat was clear as water. Even his voice was lower to add effects. But he still didn't answer my questions.

Brows furrowed, I stood there contemplating.

Okay, I'm in another world. I'm a 6 years old. My life belongs to strangers. I'm supposed to follow their orders. If I don't, my life is in danger.

Yep, I got it sorted out. Pretty much.

But I still don't know what world I am in, nor the dangers this place could offer.

"Say," I started, the man perked up, wasn't he irritated before? "What kind of world are we in?"

The man shrugged. "I wouldn't know the name. But this place loves soccer—oh, and you'll be train on that by the way—would Football Frontier International, or FFI, ring a bell to you? If it isn't then we are in a world where kids play soccer to decide the world's fate. I presume."

I sucked in a sharp breath. Oh, that description sounds familiar enough. The world where soccer rules, I remembered it clearly from my past life.

_How?_

"Inazuma Eleven..." My voice was a faint whisper in the spacious room.

_How could I be transported to this place out of all the places possible?_

**XXX**

* * *

**Published: **April 24, 2013

**A/N: **First chapter is loooong, and boring. I think I flunk the explanation part though. Don't worry, I'll put more of it in future chapters, probably. I'll never believe that I've achieved the sarcastic tone in my work either.

Putting my little talk side, let's get started on the OC Submission, shall we? 8D

First of all, there will be two forms: one for the adults (I have no idea what you guys think, but adults are pret-ty important in this fic at the beginning) and one for teens (for teams and the kids living at the camp, I would guess.).

**One thing I forgot to mention: you're allowed to submit at most 3 forms. I'll judge them, and if 2 fulfilled the conditions, I pick those 2. If I like none, sorry, it's either minor or disqualify.**

**Adult: **_(Currently have 3 adults, all females)._

Name: _Name can be from a foreign country. Doesn't really matter._

Gender: _Both male and female please_

Age: _Range from 22-39_

Appearance: _Clothing is pretty modern. Keep it to Inazuma style though. (Meaning, no revealing err… too much of body parts). And also, no people would have natural multi-color hair, nor will they have exotic colors for eyes (no heterochromatic, sorry folks). If you have an image of your OC, great! Send it in! They're always good for future references. But remember that they should be in good quality, I'm kind of color blind here guys. (Description + Image will increase your chance in being choose. By no means, DO NOT use an image that's not yours. That's plagiarism and I have zero tolerance for it.)_

Personality: _Please don't just include a list of adjectives. Give me a thorough explanation of their traits and the goods and bads of their personality. How they express themselves, how they act to certain circumstances. Don't contradict yourself either (e.g. If you say your OC is cold-hearted, please don't put funny in the same sentence.) Unable to fulfill all these requirements shall resulted your OC being disqualify __**or**__ he/she will become a minor OC._

Job: _Think of the variety of jobs in a Training Camp (which basically is all about soccer). What kind of ability (__**NOT **__special ability or the overboard-kind of ability, unless you're aiming for Mary Sue and Gary Tsu) will your OC have that will be useful to teach the younger generation? (e.g Coach, Instructor, Trainer, Chief, Engineer, etc…)_

History in the Training Camp: _Yes, you were once one of the kids who died and get transport here. Do you still retain the memories from past life? And explain why you've chosen to remain behind when you was given the choice to get out of this place._

Trivia: _What you want me to take a note of. I'm not sure if you'd want to include the meanings behind the names. Since I doubt it will be in the story anyway… But if you feel that it is important, please go ahead and include it. Extras are always welcome~_

**Teens: **_(I'm guessing that lots of people are going for this form, let's see how it will turns out. But I need 11 OCs for our lovely team (I have a name, but no uniform, so if you have an idea, please PM me). The chosen 11 might or might not appear until later. The rest of the OC shall be separate into 2 categories: Major and Minor. I'll decide on how informative the forms are to put in each category. But even if you're in Minor, it's not as if you'll be gone for good. I have a plan ;) )_

**X mark indicates that the rules and conditions are the same as in the Adult Form.**

Name: _X_

Gender: _X (Yes, I really need those boys to show themselves here. Extra cookies for you if you send in boy OCs! XD)_

Age: _Range from 12 to 16 (Remember that in the first few chapters, you're going to be around 6 six years old. My OC right now is 6, and in future she'll be 13; that's 7 years of time lapsed. So remember to do the Math! :D) Would be great if you include the OC's previous life age if he/she happened to remember them._

Appearance: _X_

Personality: _X (Do made them act like their age. If there's a certain way they're acting how they are, please include a good explanation)_

Height: _Just put the feet and inch. Not exactly that important, but I'll need them for the future picture (Yes, you heard me, picture. A friend of mine is going to draw the team. I don't know how she's going to do it though XD Therefore, I need UNIFORM ideas!)_

Background: _How did he/she died? Do your OC still retain the memories? (Remember that this case is quite rare.) Don't just make the OC to have a grim or a dark past. Not everyone are like that seeing how the life in Inazuma works. Tell me what past time they like having beside playing and training soccer, it may have relations to their past. Being force to play soccer, how do they feel?_

Specialties: _Whatever specialties you like for your OC to have. I'll let you have fun here. But remember that this is all about soccer. :D (Don't make them overwhelming powerful. That might be the source of problem if your OC happened to be rejected.) Do they have high stamina? Good at dribbling? Powerful shoots? Mobility? Insight? Or is your OC the team's brain?_

Weaknesses: _You cannot have only strength, you must also have weaknesses. That's our balance in life. So depends on how powerful your OC is, the weaknesses __**must **__be able to balance it out. This better be a reasonable explanation. (And no, your OC being afraid of bugs have nothing to do with soccer.)_

Positions:

_We have (Currently have 6 boys, 4 girls. No more girls for the team. If you're sending girls, unfortunately, they will not be in the team. But there are spots for boys still. **I need boy**** OCs.**_):

_Forwards (0) – Who receive ball and shoot (Better if the forwards are boys though)_

_Midfielders (0) – Will continuously switch between offense and defense, so they should have lots of stamina._

_Defenders (0) – Will defend the goal and block the opponents._

_Sweeper (0) – Who stay behind the defense line near the goalie box just in case if no defenders are around and the ball go in the goalie box. Specialty must include heading._

_Libero (0) – Play both offense and defense._

_GoalKeeper (1) – Protecting the goal._

_**Positions shall be update regularly so you'll be aware of what positions are left. **__** If you're chosen, your OC will be assign a team number. Remember that your OC's specialties should match with their position. Notify me if they can play different positions as well.**_

Element(s): _Earth, Wind, Water, Fire, Wood, Void. Details of these elements can be found on Inazuma Eleven Wikia. :D You may have up to 2 elements._

Hissatsu: _Maximum of 3. I can't possibly make everyone a star, so if one have too many skills, it might tip the balance of the team. But just be creative here! If you have a tactic in mind, do share for the team ;) Do note that hissatsu can't be develop immediately without tedious trainings. Your OCs will gradually improving them. In the future I will increase the numbers of hissatsu as the plot progress as well. _

Likes and Dislikes: _Not so important in soccer life. But important for possible omakes and when the team get together. No limits for this section._

Love Interest: _Now, before you go all squealing "I want X" "Please reserve X for me!" Romance in this story will progress rather slow. If not at all. But I'll be sure to include omakes for this. Just note that romance is a minor thing in here. It's also possible that your love might turn one side. But I'll include them in omakes anyway._

Trivia: _X_

**VIOLATIONS:**

Mary Sue, Gary Tsu, and whatever Sue are unacceptable. I've made the form to be more precise so that you'll be able to avoid future Sues attacks. Therefore, I should see no Sues around here.

Copying people's works are plagiarisms. I will immediately disqualify the OC if I see that.

**Author's Rant:**

Canon characters won't be able to appear until later. Since we have the Training Arc to get over with here (where I'll introduce the stage and our wonderful OCs.). But this story will take place in Inazuma Eleven (NOT Go!) So beware of that.

Minor OCs (who didn't make it to the team) will be put in other teams. I'll do my best in letting everyone play a certain role. So don't feel down if you are not chosen.

If you let me to twist your OCs around a bit, then I'd be really happy. Because in most stories, they always have character development. Meaning that they'll have a hard time, they will make mistakes, but it's all part of their growth. This is **really **crucial in a story's plot. So if I have your permission, I'll be able to include them in here. If you have something in mind, please talk it out. I'd be happy to listen to you. :D

I'll be judging each form based on how informative it is. If you're struggling because of the language barrier, please let me know. I'll be glad to help. :D (Little dirty secret: I've just learned English for 3 years. So I'm not that fluent either. :P)

I also need your help here: I need the team uniform, so PM me if you have an idea. Then I'll let you know the theme of the team. Thank you! :D

**Please answer these questions when you're sending the OC through PM:**

-Would you like me to notify you whether you're chosen or not?

-How would you like your OC entrance to the story be?

-May I have permission (for my friend) to draw your OC if it get chosen?

That is all from me. (Why is it sooo long?) If I don't see much of OCs coming in, I'll be force to continue the story. So do send them in! I'm really excited to be reading your OCs Form! XD

Remember that I'll be there. So if you need help, just ask! Don't be shy! (You know, one thing I like about fanfiction/net is that there are so many people all over the world gathering here. Maybe I'll be able to pick up a few foreign language while I am here. XD)

(Also review to tell me how I did on the first chapter!)

-Loretta


	2. New Revelations and Identity

**A/N: **Woah...woah...woah...Oh my goodness. I friggin' love you guys! 10 reviews for 1 chapter! And the OC Submissions were wonderful! (I love them all! But I still had to choose...T^T) That and you guys are one awesome bunch! I'm so happy as a noob here! XD

Anyway, here's the 2nd chapter (I had to tell myself again and again to stop slacking and write at least 1 page per day =3=) after...4 days? Beware! Long details and explanations ahead!

* * *

_Inazuma Eleven __© Level-5_

_..._

___Through Space and Time ____© Loretta Fiorella_**  
**

* * *

**CHAPTER T W O:**

New Revelations and Identity

* * *

Sucking all these info at once is no easy task, I tell you. Now that I know I'm in a kid's cartoon (even though I am one, but that's not the point), I'm one hundred percent sure that this is all a dream.

"Nonononono..." I chanted repeatedly. Fingers were pressed against my temples, massaging it.

This is just all a dream. I'm certain of that. No way in hell I'm in an anime world, Inazuma Eleven to boot. This is just a dream. A very realistic one.

The man, once again, seemed to be looking at me weirdly. "You know kiddie, denying it won't change the truth. Just go with the flow; easier for me, easier for you."

I glared at him. What was he yapping on now?

"Shut up, this is just dream, don't tell me what to do," I hissed.

I don't believe it. I'm not one of those fantasizing people who loves to go to another world. My world was bad enough—with savaging wars and pollution and whatnot—now I would have to rewind my life and going through puberty again? _Now _he's telling me that I'm working for this unwanted second life? I didn't even have a choice in the matter!

I decided to pinch my face, if it doesn't hurt, then I'll go along with the dream, content that it's just an illusion. If it does, then...well, I wouldn't know.

With that thought, I pinch the skin.

Pain.

There was pain.

For good measure, I slapped my face twice. Hard.

The pain still sting my cheeks.

It couldn't be possible...

"This is no dream, kiddo. Useless trying to hurt yourself. If you can't handle the news, you'll have problems later on." The man shifted slightly, his discomfort from standing was getting to him.

"We are going to take this conversation somewhere else. The bloody bastard who build this place likes the white, and it had been a bother to fire him. Even if we were to paint this place again, the budgets won't be light. And the greedy old men won't even dare to let a coin to slip through their fingers. Good thing that they are not here anymore, and the..."

The man keep talking, but I didn't give him any of my attention. Most of it were focusing on the current problem.

Okay, deep breath. Close eyes. Calm down. Analyze the problem. Remember what you had learned from school. Good, good. This is a dream. The pain had been part of the dream too. Reality and dream are hard to tell apart. Don't jump to conclusion just yet. Calm, calm...

"...t seems to me that you still don't believe my explanation huh?" The voice snapped me out of my train of thoughts. I didn't noticed that he had moved closer and was now standing 5 feet away from me. What does he want?

He sighed, suddenly looked weary as opposed his unlikeable self from before. "I'm taking you to your new Instructor," he said, "she will explain the basic necessity while living here. You will meet your friends later, and don't start a rampage." Then motioned with his hand towards the door.

What friends? This place has an Instructor?

My eyes followed his movements, and my head nodded dumbly. It doesn't matter anymore; whether if this is a dream or reality. I had already died. This might as well just another test. A strange one, or a weird dream. Either way, I just have to go with the flow, right?

So I followed him outside.

It was a narrow hallway, different from what I had imagined. The floor was reflecting the white lights on the ceiling, and both side of the hall lined the doors that resembled the one I saw in my room. It was all white; the same scenery. I found myself shifting my eyes away from the blinding lights on the floor.

He strode casually forward, while I paddled silently behind him, trying to familiarize with my new height. It was strange, and the balance were off too. I wasn't used to this new...change, I'd definitely trip if I run right now, and I really don't want to try that after my red nose (yes, I looked like Santa's reindeer, no need to rub it in) was almost squashed by my lovely 'friend.'

Soon, for about 4 minutes, we reached to the end of another hallway, where a double oak door stood threatenly. There were voices conversing inside.

I gulped. Who am I meeting now? Who was this...Instructor? Who was the other person inside?

I cast a skeptical glance at the man in front of me, unsure. He hasn't spoken a single word ever since we left the white room. Nor does he even glance at me once. Why does it suddenly feels like I'm about to enter a tiger's den?

He knocked twice on the white wooden surface, and the talking immediately ceased. Soft footsteps silently approach and the soft 'clink' of the knock turning signal the door to open.

It was a woman, who opened the door. Her shoulder length brown hair and her friendly green eyes was the two features that I instantly took in first. She seems to be around the man's age, around 24, perhaps? I wouldn't know. She looks as if she had been in a rush, judging by her wrinkle white polo shirt and the denim jeans. Otherwise, she appears to be on alert for...something. I don't know.

She immediately took notice of the man (Ugh...when is he going to tell me his name? Why was I ignored again? Screw the Rules... and dream, I want my normal height back now) and bowed her head respectfully towards him. But the man took no notice of the polite gesture.

He cocked his head downwards, to me. "The newbie had just woke up, you can do the usual."

The woman now eyed me curiously, having just noticed my presence (I wonder why Fate hates me so much to make my presence to be as important as dust. I mean, what's up with that?). "So this is the one who screamed earlier, yes?"

I casted my eyes down, embarrassed. Yes, I know. I was the one who were yelling at the top of her lungs after discovering the fact that she been minimized into a child's height. I didn't know it was _that _loud to reach this part of the building, which is quite a distance away.

Did the anime somehow strengthen my loud voice?

...

Nah.

I hope not. My voice is the only thing I won't mind being lessen. Though I still want my height back, possibly taller too.

The man nodded in acknowledgement, "Well, then, I will be leaving her in your care." With that, he cast another look at me, which I thought was odd, and then depart. His footsteps echoed through the white hall.

"Well, come in then," the woman gestured inside.

I tentatively peek in. The room looks like the usual offices you'd see on TV; with the tables and stacks of papers, the supplies lay strewn across the desk, and shelves lined against the wall. But I didn't see any other person there.

I walked in, aware of the _click_ of the door closed shut. The woman walked past me, shifted through the papers on her desk and finally picked one out. All I did was fidgeting and looking around nervously.

I was surprised to see there was, indeed, another person in the room. But she was leaning against the wall, seemingly deep in thought, and emitting those unfriendly waves across the room. I shuddered, I could feel her intimidating presence pressing.

_Okay, you're in a room, alone with two strangers. Do anything rash and I'm going to kill you. So just shut your mouth for once and stop that fidgeting!_

I mentally groaned. Trust another part of my brain to finally operated properly after the transport. It seems like it's healthy enough now to be the mother hen, again.

What a pain...

"Good, here is the paper," the brown hair woman mumbled. She then looked up, smiling, "I believe we should start with an introduction, right?" Even without waiting for my response, she continued, "My name is Nishimura Saori, and I worked as an Instructor here. It is part of my job to help the new members settling in, so relax."

Uh? Another hello? How can I be relax when the person who is releasing all those pressure is in the room? At least tell her to turn off her don't-you-dare-come-near-me waves! And you people are basically strangers who had just kidnapped this unwilling self to another world! And you want me to 'relax' and just do what you told? Are you kidding me?!

Truth to be told, I feels like shouting those words out now. Just for the heck of it.

The woman—she said her name is Saori?—was oblivious to my 'supposedly deathly' aura, and proceeded to talk.

I did another round of groaning, mentally, with a mental head desk for bonus. More lectures? When will these people ever run out of their talks? They looks like they have an endless supplies of information waiting to be stuff into my (now tiny as pea) brain!

"Have you understand the concept of traveling to another world and why you're in that form yet?" she asked.

I nodded yes.

Yes, that man who had just so _graciously _dumped me in the middle of nowhere for interrogation (or at least it feels like one) had drilled that in my head at least _twice. _Or was it thrice?

"...Then let me get on to how this place works. As you know, you're at a Training Camp which train children who were recently transported, and they are required to play soccer, which is the most important factor in this world."

Another nod (my neck really want to snap into two right about now).

"The children usually came here as a group, but most are unconscious for days." She looked at me in the eyes, "And you, you've been in a sleeping state for two weeks."

I frowned. Two weeks. Had I slept that long? What for? It's not as if I really need that beauty sleep.

"When that happens," she continued, "it notified us that a part of your brain was collecting the fragments of memories and trying to put them together. Hence the need for shutting down your system for rest. That's why you might have felt the fatigue affecting you when you came here." She smiled that friendly smile, and I wondered if I can trust it.

But I must admit that it held some truth. I do feel sort of sleepy when I walked here, even almost trip on air (I swear I _do not _have a thing with tripping). On air! Air! Believe that! But that still doesn't prove anything.

"That case is quite rare, regaining your past memories I mean. Usually children have their memories wiped due to the after effects of their deaths, but a part of your brain might still retain its original function to be able to piece the memories. Perhaps your cerebrum," she tapped her head for emphasis, "wasn't entirely dead when you bang your head against the ground?"

I shrugged. I won't know about those things and how brain function. My brain wasn't made for researching and analyzing. But...

"How did you know I died by an injury on the head?" I asked, more out of curiosity.

"Before you were put in the Recuperating Room, it is necessary to check for cause of death. It served well in informing us bits of your background, I suppose," she chuckled. "Our Health Advisor was always busy with such job, good thing there were others who helped her now. It was also thanks to her that we got a head up notice for your long period of rest, and thus, you were moved to this building."

Hmm...They certainly knew a lot, or maybe it's just because of my ignorance. Ugh, this is _so _going to be a headache later. But imagining that my body was examined by a stranger...I resist a shudder. Immediately blocking away the thoughts that threatened to pop up out of nowhere.

"How many people are here?" I asked, trying to distance myself from those evil thoughts (_Idon'twanttotaintmyinnocenceorwhatwasleftofitanywa y)._

The woman contemplated for a moment (_Hurry up! _I almost blurted out), before saying: "I would say around 70, that's the approximate number for those who were transported here. But you won't see that many around here," she chuckled.

I raised my eyebrow. Now I wondered why? If this really is a Training Camp, then that number is barely abundant. Though the less, the merrier. Good, good.

"This place is divided into different Divisions; 5 in total. At the beginning when you first woke up here, you will be assigned to a certain Division. Most of the time it's random though. Each of the Division have their own building, but you'll all shared the same equipment, the fields and trainings include. Just consider the Divisions as your dorm, and perhaps in the future you'll be chosen as the representative for your own Division, based on your skills that is.

"You have already been assigned to one, I believe," she looked at the paper from before, "The Atlantics, huh? So you'll have Ishiko-san as your Trainer." She then nodded towards the woman in the back of the room.

I glance at her form, whose critical brown eyes now examined my little wimpy self. Now that I take a good look at her, I deduced with my not-so-smart brain that she was originally an officer of sort, judging by her stern face. But hey, that was just a guess.

"Your future Trainer, Ishiko Yanagi, will be training you in terms of physical abilities. She was once a naval officer, so don't be surprise of her strict orders. She'll do a good job in shaping you up," Saori-er-Nishimura-san laughed.

I'm still not used with the honorifics. (Wait, hold on, are we in Japan?) And I, for once, actually guessed it right?

Unbelievable.

Ishiko...-san took a quick glance at the Instructor, and then turned to me. "I'll expect you to be on your best behavior while you're under my care. You're not allowed to do anything by yourself without my instructions during your time here, otherwise I must take appropriate measures." Her voice a monotone, and her eyes did a good job in piercing through my skull.

Heh, that wasn't even funny. Just my luck to be under a naval officer's care. Thanks, Fate! Yes, that was sarcasm there.

She sort of reminds me of my PE teacher from...previous life, who is the epitome of Spartan. Thanks to him, I'll never forget the traumatizing experience of running, nor the sores that had randomly attacking my legs out of nowhere. Thus resulting me to whined for my friend and complained until it pissed the hell out of her.

Ugh, I'm feeling homesick now. Go away, go away, thoughts. I still have some unfinished business here.

I nodded nervously towards my future (hopefully not Spartan) teacher, and turn my attention back to the Instructor.

"This building we are in right now is where the new children are placed until they woke up. You could say it is the same as a hospital, since this is also where we took care of the injuries. Although the ones with memories are placed in a different part of the building, the ones who doesn't will be placed together for an explanation of how they're here. It was quite taxing to keep all of them down," she sighed.

I stayed silence. The idea of myself being in a hospital was disturbing. It reminds me of those horror movies which I was forced to watch when young. Ahh, sweet memories. Not.

"You haven't told me on what to do here yet." I spoke.

She silently gazed at me, and nodded, "That's true. You do understand that you must compensate the shelter and foods we provided for you, right? And in order to do that, you must work for us." She paused, folding her hands in front of her.

"By working I mean to play soccer and defeat your opponents. All you are required to do is to train and become more proficient at soccer, assigned into a team and follow our orders. Which are mostly to play against schools that threatened us, and win." At this, her eyes contained sorrow.

"But that's just an excuse. Even though this place was created to give children like you a second chance, having enemies who thought that we are using absurd means to force you to play are unavoidable. If we don't act before they do, you all will eventually die because you don't belong here, in this world. That's why we're so focus on making you train, and let you live your second chance." She leaned back on her chair, and calmly waiting for my reaction.

So this is what the man meant when he said that my life will finish if I don't obey. It's understandable, the reason. We are to fight for our own lives, and the Training Camp is just a stepping stone. I considered that fact. Somehow this had turned into an adventure, one for our lives. I still wonder if this really is a reality.

"...What about the ones who don't want a second chance?" I asked. Because it is possible that there are some who attempted suicide. I scoffed, suicide is the lowest act and it is weak. No doubt there are people who are too vulnerable in front of their own fears and decided that the only way to run away from it is their own death.

She once again gazed at me, green eyes now serious, "If you're given a second life to spend, I would suggest to use it wisely. That's one of the reason why you've been giving a new identity."

New...identity?

"Your appearance, even your name, which is the basic structure of your identity, will be change completely. Do you remember your own name?"

What? Of course I do! I've used it for 14 years of my life! Of course I...still...remember...

I frowned, my brain searching for at least a clue of my own name.

But, it had disappeared. Like bubbles. Completely wiped out. My own identity.

I can't remember...

How?

Nishimura-san nodded, "That's what I mean. Your previous name was erased, to be replaced with a new one, which you will use in this life. It is the beginning of your new identity here in this world. So you don't have to worry about the past and can start anew."

Another shock. My brain couldn't possibly take in all this.

"Then..." I started cautiously, "what is my new...identity?"

The Instructor smiled, "Your name, from now on, will be Fukuzawa Ran."

That was it.

**XXX**

* * *

**Published: **April 28, 2013

**A/N: **My apologies for the the lack of appearance of OCs and the lack of humor. Since I wanted to get the explanation out of the way, so there must be one long boring chapter ("OTL). I originally planned this chapter to be the OCs' appearance, but then it gets too long so...

_Anyway,_ we have the appearances of the 2 adults, and one was also mentioned. I don't know if you'd like me to say who's the creators of the OCs, so I'm not going to put it here. But if you do, do notify me! :D

Also, this chapter should at least gave a few insights on the main character, now revealed as Ran. You should noticed, she is sarcastic, impatient, and rather suspicious about the motives of this organization. And the name was a complete random, suggested by my friend who browsed it on the Name Generator, so it doesn't have any special meanings. I did drew a picture, my dear friend helped with most of it though, on Ran's basic appearance. Since the only thing you know about her is that she's a 6 years old with black hair. The link will be on my profile, if anyone cares.

I really really wanted to get this arc over with and get started with the main plot (Canon characters, wohoo!). But at best as I can tell, it will a few more chapters away, so please bear with this no-good author!

-Loretta.


	3. Weird Rules Plus Strange Competition

**Disclaimer:** I believe it is obvious that I DO NOT own Inazuma Eleven or anything related to it. I also do not own the OCs used here unless stated otherwise, and they belongs to their respective creators. I only owned Ran, Youta, Youko, Tarou, and my plots. Nothing else. Shio (or Shiori) belongs to my friend. Thank you.

Long absence equals long chapter is my (lame) excuse. I'm so sorreeeeeeey! Making you all waited this long. TT^TT Please! Continue on and don't let this useless self delay your time for reading!

* * *

_Inazuma Eleven __© Level-5_

_..._

___Through Space and Time ____© Loretta Fiorella_**  
**

* * *

**CHAPTER THREE :**

Weird Rules Plus Strange Competition

* * *

She was kind enough to let me stayed for a few more minutes to let my brain function properly, and absorbed the new information that had been drilled in my brain.

Once I actually regained my wandering mind, she started to explain the schedule in which I will be following from now on (I was actually too stunned to even make any inner sarcastic remarks, heh).

I'll have breakfast at 7:30AM in the Lounge, together with other kids in my division, then proceed to the Training Center, where Ishiko-san will be monitoring our daily morning training. After that, we are allowed for 2 hours break before attending classes that normal schools would have until the evening, when we will attend soccer lessons. For the rest of the day, we have our own free time. "But you'll still be doing your homework," Nishimura-san had warned.

It seemed like even here, I still couldn't escape the miseries of school. Note the plural. And cue a round of groaning.

She had given me a map for the Training Camp (and boy, it was huge) and stack of papers that I must read, seeing that it was something I need to know while living here. I assumed it must be the Rules, and it probably have something to do with my future.

"I would've let you rest, after such revelations, but your room wasn't ready yet, since we don't know how long your sleep will last. You might want to take this chance and meet your new friends." She had said, accompanied with an apologetic face. I gave her my best deadpan face.

Life. It loves torturing me.

That's why I had walked around, head turning in every direction, eyes squinting on the map, looking for the Lounge, where others are supposed to be at this time of the day.

So far, I could safely say that my luck ran out.

Why?

It's simple: I'm lost.

It actually took me awhile to begrudgingly admit that I'm lost, and no, I won't have any hope in finding my destination very soon.

I went to the nearest wall possible, and bang my head on the wall.

"Whywhywhywhy...?" Why indeed. First of all, I had warped through space. Second, being forced to play a sport that I've never played in my entire life to save myself. Third, being lost in a maze of blinding white walls with no hope of getting out.

All in one day. One _single freakin' morning._

Wonderful.

My life just couldn't get any better.

_Wrong._

I should have known better than jinxing myself, because in the next moment, as I turned the corner, it felt like something had just dropped from the sky.

...

Actually, disregard that unfitting analogy, it felt like a locomotive train on sugar rush.

...

Nope, that one doesn't work either, it felt more like—oh, forget it. My brain is going to burst with nonsensical analogies soon.

So this is literally what happened: something blurry whizzed past me (there was a flash of brown...?), causing me to lose 5 years of my life and fall down to my rear. Effectively scattered all the papers on the floor.

"Ow,ow,ow..." I groaned. How is it that—Ugh, nevermind. Complains later. Fate (or Life, whichever is blameable) found it fun to torture me anyway.

I glared at the person slash chibified kid who had just speeded past me on his skateboard (which is...taller than himself?), now standing, peering at me curiously.

Forget being sarcastic, where is his 'gentleman blood'? I was pushed (okay, not literally pushed, I fell down on my own, but it's still his fault!) and now sitting in the giant mess of papers. Yet no help?!

"What was that for?!" I scowled at the kid.

He blinked a few times, a flash of recognition entered his eyes, before breaking into a grin, "Woah! I recognized that voice. You're that newbie right? The one who were yelling in the Hospital?"

...aaand the cycle began. Moreover, I could see a pattern forming now. Lovely.

Did I mentioned that I hate my life? Er, new life?

"So what if I'm that screaming kid in the Hospital or whatever building that is?" I retorted sharply, but he seemed unaffected by my remark.

He still had that cheery attitude on, ignoring my position on the floor. "Haha~ Sorry, I was just excited. The name's Sanada Kazuo. And sorry about that by the way, I was trying out my new skateboard. But I didn't really bump into you though..." He crouched down to my level and offered a hand.

I took it, no point in complaining to someone I've never met. 'sides, he _should _know where the Lounge is. Even though a part of my brain was protesting about asking someone for help (heh, stubborn side), I still debated on whether to ask him or not.

Should I? _No. _**Yes.**

Cue a dramatic sigh.

I then pointedly ignored his stares, and began picking the scattered papers from the floor. At one point, he began to help with the process. I let him.

Holding the stack of papers in my hands (I'll need to organize it later...), I noticed that he was about to leave; leaving this lost and confused soul behind. I instantly made my decision on the spot while at the same time telling my pride to stay low and shut up. I grabbed his jacket.

He seemed surprised by my sudden action, and almost fell backward, if not for my hand that steadied him behind his back. He turned to me, and raised his eyebrow—blue eyes curious, "_Now _what was that for?"

"I need your help," I spoke in one breath, glancing away, suddenly feeling shy. I slapped myself mentally. _What was there to be shy about?! Argh, get a grip! You want to starve?!_

There was a brief moment of silence, before understanding crossed his eyes. He then broke into a full-out laughter. "Oh...I see! Y-You're lost? Aren't you?" He said between his breath. Now looking at me with an amused expression as if he just found a new species. Which was kind of true, but I'm an authentic human, unfortunately for him.

But, I'm not going to be make fun of again, now am I...?

Screw it.

I took my hand back. Okay, plan. I need a damn plan now, or maybe an excuse is fine. Whatever is fine as long as it let me see sunshine and rainbow and lollipop and unicorns.

…..

Forget the last three, I just need sunshine. And food.

His laughs slowed down enough to spoke without stammering, but his grin was still taped on his face. _How I want to peel that off..._"Y'know, before asking someone for help, you should mind your manner and introduce yourself. _Then _ask them for help." He was having fun with this, I knew it, his face was proof.

I scowled, and glared at him. Who does he think he is? He's just...few inches taller than I am! But I still obliged (it's not as if I have any other option beside wandering around like a lost puppy), with lots of inner fighting, of course.

"...F-Fukuzawa Ran, now can you _please_ help me?" The name was foreign. But I did my best to put on a very polite smile, which I made sure to stretched it as far as possible on my face and releasing my killer aura. As well as emphasized the magic word. Hah! Take that!

"Are you trying imitate a vampire? If so, you're failing—pretty badly I might add." _That little..._ "Since you have introduced yourself, I might as well help you. I'll just get in trouble if I tried out my new skateboard here anyway." He grinned, patting his skateboard.

"If you knew that you'll get in trouble, why did you even do it?" I asked, bemused. Is he still in his rebellious stage?

His grin widen, if possible. "Because of this guy here," he placed a hand on top of the skateboard's deck, "makes me want to go for it. I was really excited to get a new one after all this waiting," he laughed.

Then add: "Aren't you going to tell me what to help you?" He shot me a look.

Oops, on the wrong track.

"Well, I was wondering if you know where the Lounge is..." I said, staring right at him, questioning.

He did a thinking pose—with the scrunched of eyebrows and fingers on chin—for a few seconds. "If we want to get there," he started, "then we'll have to use the outside path. It's much faster than trying to find the way through this maze."

I blinked. So there's an exit to the outside world? Wonderful. Hopefully somebody will have a chocolate pudding ready...

"So? What are you daydreaming for? Are you going or not?" Sanada (er, Kazuo?) was waving his hand in front of my face. I blinked again.

"Oh sorry, I was just thinking," I apologized. He just shrugged.

"We better hurry then, that stomach of yours kept growling all this while," he said, and turned to the other direction.

I stared after his back. I think I might've an ear infection, or that guy had just lied. Whichever it was, I was _sure _that my stomach did not growled.

….

I think. Can't tell when I'm feeling hungry now.

I—once again—paddled silently after another stranger. I wondered how big this place was (considerably big, when looking at the huge map), because the hallway seemed to stretched on endlessly. What doesn't help would be my exhausted stomach and my new height.

Urgh, being short just makes things all the more difficult. Doesn't it?

"How long have you been here?" I asked, striking up a conversation to break the ice.

"About 2 years or so," he answered, then faced me, "I was your age when I woke up, I guess?"

"Does everyone here are kids?"

"Not really, though most of the population are kids since we just recently established this place, we have the adults. You know that kids with memories are rare right?" He asked. I nodded.

"Well, while kids with their pasts are rare, adults—the Aged—who were once took a part in games are also pretty rare to see around the campus. Otherwise, we have hired people who were originally born in this world." We turned a corner.

"Why?" I asked, confused. I thought this place would be full of the grown-ups teenagers. So it would be pretty crowded, but hearing that the adults (he called them the Aged?) are few, it just made things to be more complicated than it seemed.

He stopped, and I followed. Focusing his eyes on me—now serious—he said, "When you're 16, you'll be given a choice; to stay, or to leave." He resumed his walk.

"At the age of 16, you are considered to be able to take care of yourself. The old folks will provide you enough money and an I.D. acknowledging that you're a citizen. But the rest is all up to you. That's why so many people left when they reached the required age. But some stay for their own personal reasons, of course."

"What happened to the ones who left?"

"This place was isolated by the forest. So if they leave, they won't come back—the old folks won't let them in anyway. But if they managed to survive out there, they probably have a good life," he said.

"Probably? You sounded like you're unsure," I told him.

He chuckled, "No, I certainly am not sure. No one actually know what happened to the 16s when they left. We're rather isolated after all. Even the higher-ups don't allow news from the outside world to seep in."

Another question, "Why?"

He shrugged, "I think it's because they would distract us from training. Who knows?" He left it at that.

I contemplated his answers. Why do we needed to be isolated? To protect us from danger? But why does we have enemies anyway? Even if the news really does diverted our attention from training, it's peculiar how it's prohibited here. Not to mentioned the odds that there are no information about the ones who moved. How strange...and unsettling. It's as if the organization wanted to separate the kids from the outside world. But for what reason?

And just how deep is this organization?

"Say, who are the ones threatened yo—...uh, sorry—us? Didn't they realized that we are not being forced—not literally—to train right?" I asked.

"The organization did tried to convinced them, I think, but since our background are shappy, they of course won't dare placed their trust on us. I suppose? Oh, and the ones we are fighting from now on will be the schools that opposed us, but the decision on who to fight would lies with the old folks." The way he said 'fighting' left me unsettled, as if it's not only just a normal soccer game. But since when soccer was normal here?

However, I noted, there was that again; who exactly are 'old folks'?

I voiced out my question.

He shrugged. "The Masters. I don't know much about the details either, but they usually send us mails through our Communication building in the West, and it usually is just orders. But I heard that there was someone else who just took their place recently, and that someone...well...isn't exactly the type for socializing. Even the adults have no idea how he—or they?—looks like."

So, this _someone _is controlling the place, and it's he who we all must depend on. Sounds like a dictator, and somehow, dictator never sounded reassuring to me.

"So we just took orders obediently? And have you participated in any...play?" I asked once again, but with more hesitation than the previous questions.

"Yep, that's all we will do according to the adults and the Rules," he casted his eyes to the papers on my arms, then grimaced, "and no, since only kids who are 12 or above gets to go to the outside world and play."

Was that longing I heard in his tone?

I frowned and plunged myself to my train of thoughts. I understood that we worked through soccer to—what was the word?—_defeat_ the threats from schools that opposed us. But why? Why would those schools not willing to listen to this organization? And why is it that we are so careful in keeping a low profile? Is there something that this suspicious place is hiding from us? Nothing made sense, and the numerous questions that had been rampaging in my head doesn't help. Nor does Sanada looked like he wanted to continue this topic further. So I left it hanging, questions can be deal with later.

On another thought, how do we get out of here to face our supposed enemies?

As if reading my mind, Sanada clarified, "To get out of here, you must receive permission from Him, and then you will be able to fly on our private jets, beyond the endless forest and away from this place. Usually our imitation-of-an-airport Department took care of the flights, but sometimes we just leave without undergo any inspection or preparations. As for supplies, the Communication building ordered them and the government shipped them to us through air, though it was done secretly, I heard. But it's impossible without leaving this place by airplane, otherwise, leaving through the forest is just madness." He shook his head at the thought.

I raised my eyebrow, "You sounded like you had experienced it before."

He shuddered, "Not exactly going in the depth of the forest, but some of the kids either get lost or stupid enough to go in; they never came back, and we never heard of them since their departures either. So it becomes a rule to not step one foot into the forest's boundary. No one wanted to try after that. Even the forest is not trusting here." He sighed, and ran a hand soothingly on the deck of the skateboard.

_Nor does this place, _I added silently. The secrecy is suspicious, being told that we're playing without knowing much about our opponent is suspicious, and purposely trapping us here with only the sky as our route out is downright suspicious. They're treating us almost like puppets with strings.

Puppets, been a long time since I have thought about that.

"Do you want to leave?" I inquired, then immediately mentally slapped myself. It's his business and personal thing to consider about. Not my place to pry into it! As sarcastic (and maybe a little dramatic...Okay, not little) as I am, I don't want to become one of those nosy girls who like to butt into others' businesses. "I mean, if you want to tell me that is," I added.

Fortunately, he didn't seem to mind it. But more like shock, as if he hadn't considered the option before. He shook his head, "No, it's fine! Actually, I do want to leave, as many others do. But that's impossible." The mood suddenly grew solemn.

"Why?" Forgetting my own personal rule not to pry for a moment. But I wanted to know the impossibilities.

"With the forest and the careful watches of the adults? No, everyone here knows it's not going to happen. And if we run—leave," he corrected himself, "we can't survive without the medication provided."

Seeing my confused look, he explained, "Medication for fighting diseases, do you expect us to just adapt to this world that easy?"

Well, no. But I hadn't thought that we would need medical cares to survive here, a world where we don't belong to. I shook my head, there was nothing else to do.

He nodded approvingly, "Exactly. Our bodies are naturally weak when faced with different environments, so it's necessary to take precautions. And since we lived near a forest, the air is much fresher than in the city—where it is full of pollution—we are not affected as much. Otherwise, if you leave this place to the outside world without protection, your body will immediately broke down from the abrupt change."

I nodded understandingly. But what kind of 'protection'?

Once again Sanada answered my unvoiced question. I swear he have telepathy, how else could he achieved that feat twice?!

"First you need the injection to strengthen your immune system, _then_ you are required to take the prescribed medication for good measure every day. As far as I know, those are the only things we needed. But that knowledge alone is enough to keep others at bay. 'If we leave this place, we die.'" He quoted, too casually for the mood of the conversation if I might add.

Yep, it's official. We're trapped no matter how much we look at it. Not cool.

This situation reminded me of the time when I was stuck inside a closet though, back when I was still alive and not revived into a soccer-loving world, obviously. We were playing hide-and-seek with our usual group, near our apartment building. It had just been Shio, the twins—Youta and Youko—Tarou, and me. We were a mischievous little bunch, pranking our neighbors and got scolded for it. But we never did learned our lessons.

It was on a hot summer day, so we decided for an outdoor game. We ended up picking hide-and-seek due to Shio's constant whinings and Youko's impatient face. And of course, our self-proclaimed leader, Tarou, ended up being the 'It.' We were given only 10 seconds ("He cheated!" Shio had complained while pointed accusingly to the guilty party) to scatter and find a good spot for hiding. Though mostly everyone chose a nice shade to sneak in.

As for me, I hid inside an old portable closet—which was thrown out by one of the family resided in the area—and waited for the countdown. My 8 year old self was perfectly confident that Tarou won't be able to find me in something like this. So after I zipped the zipper by climbing up on one of the pole, I sat down contently in one corner, waiting for Tarou's voice to called out.

I could barely contained my giggles when his shadow walked past me, not stopping to check. After a while and checking that no one is coming to find me (and the heat was_ really_ becoming unbearable), I reached for the zipper by standing on my tiptoes and reached a hand outside to pull the zipper down.

But it didn't move, no matter how hard many times I grunted and made an effort of pulling it down as best as I could from the inside.

The zipper was stuck.

And I realized it in horror.

I had remembered that Mama once faced the trouble of pulling my jacket open simply because the zipper was stuck. It had taken her a while just to get it fixed, and she did with the zipper directly in front of her. But now, I can't fix a broken zipper from the inside, that's just like trying to walk through a crowded street with a blindfold on. Not to mentioned that I can't continually stood on my tiptoes to pull it forcefully.

So desperate, I dragged and pulled it open, but only managed to frustrated myself more under the heat. With a wail, I flopped down and took a deep breath, and began to cry and scream as hard as I could. I kicked the fabric that's separating me from the outside, and tried to fight against the devilish heat.

Soon it felt like the crystal rivulets on my face were starting to dry, but I haven't gotten anywhere yet. I remembered screaming for Mama, for Tarou, for Shio, and the twins—until my throat became hoarse and dried. Only when it feels like an eternity that a rush of footsteps ran towards my screeching noise. There were shadows, I faintly recalled, behind the blue curtain that's suffocating me, and there was a ripping noise, before I was embraced by Mama. She muttered and whispered words, it was soothing me like a lullaby, and I then finally fell asleep, exhausted.

The whole group were right beside me when I woke up.

It was the same thing now, just excluding the heat and the blue, cramped space. And there was no familiar comforting faces beside me when I woke up. This place was trapping not only me, but other kids, it seemed. It was a large cage, enough to delusioned the bird inside to fly freely just like in the outside world, only then to be crushed with a realization that it was just the same thing every day. The same route, the same air, the same scenery.

Every. Single. Day.

What a paradox.

And hold on, since when did I became a poet? And since when did I began this whole 'damsel in distress'?

_This whole darn fiasco is making me weird, _I thought gloomily.

But speaking of them, I wondered how they are doing. I wondered how they'd react when they saw me lying on the ground, near the staircase, not breathing? Youko would definitely start yelling and screaming, and Youta—always the calm one—would have to restrained his twin sister. Shio would frown, serious unlike her usual self, and her face solemnly stared straight ahead. As for Tarou, well, I haven't had a slightest idea on how he'd react. He'd always be the most unpredictable one in the group. And me, I was always the weak and the most pathetic one, and yet, always the one who tried to put up a tough front. We were an odd bunch, no room for arguments.

I wondered how Mama is coping. It had always been me and her in our little apartment. Dad, according to Mama, disappeared right after she gave birth to me. She didn't know, and didn't _want _to know, where he is. I personally didn't gave a care in the world for him. If he's out of my life, then he's out of my life. But Mama had to work day and night for the rent, and it's enough to sustain us in our basic needs. I would took care of our little home—quaint but cozy—while she works. It had been our silent agreement. Besides, there was our little group, so it wasn't that much 'tragedy' type of life. It was just all normal routine. I was contented.

But when I'm not there to witness our daily routine, it became more disturbing, just like now. My breath hitched, and my eyes stung. I'm starting to feel homesick now, even after I tried to put as much sarcasms into my head as much as possible, I knew the pain would come sooner or later. But not this fast.

"You alright? You looked pale," a worried voice snapped me out of my reminiscing. I had forgotten that I have an audience as well.

I quickly looked up, and put on my most polite smile, "Yes, I'm fine. Just remembering things."

He frowned, didn't looked convinced. Well, I can't blame him. I would get suspicious too if Shio suddenly strained a smile, which would be _very _unusual for her carefree personality. Despite that, I kept up my facade, wouldn't want him to know now do we?

Finally he gave up his questioning stare, and nodded, "If you're unhappy, try listen to music. It helps. But we'll need to wait until we get there first." He gave a short chuckle, and turned back forward.

I secretly gave him a smile, he was trying to cheer me up, I know. And I can't find myself to pretend that everything is all a dream and I should solve this using sarcastic remarks. Because now, I'm starting to believe this is real. Whether I liked it or not.

After that it was just silence, an awkward one. But it seemed like my tour guide was perfectly comfortable with it. How, I have no idea.

So it surprised me a bit when he suddenly break the ice.

"...Is it nice? Having a past?" He was aware that this was a touchy subject, but he was more curious to know about it.

I shrugged. "Annoying, you get homesick easily. It would have been much better if I remember my name though." Remembered to silently cursing whoever decided to erase my real name.

He laughed at my response, to which I answered with a deadpanned face. "I see..." His expression and his words don't match. At all.

"What about you? Do you still remember anything?"

He gave me this enigmatic smile, but answered nonetheless. "I don't, that's why I was curious. I don't know whether Sanada Kazuo is my real name or not. So it was..._uneasy _when they told me my name. They could be lying, or it's just the truth. But they most likely lied about it though."

"Oh," I have nothing to say to that. So I started another one, "Say, how do you carry that skateboard around?"

His reply to that was a grin, and a new glimmer sparked in his eyes.

...What did I just asked?

**XXX**

After a round of lecture (yes, I'm not kidding. Oh horrible, horrible lectures...) about skateboard, he finally let me on in his 'Secret Art to Carry a Skateboard That's As Tall As You Are.' Long title, I know, but that's what he called it.

He told me about the trainings, and how he have to trained these past 2 years ever since he arrived here to this Training Camp. Slowly it became easier to carry heavy things. I asked him that soccer was all about legs and body, not arms. But he said that it was one of the required thing in the training schedule. Apparently the Trainer had made it clear to train him equally in all aspects. I totally have no clue how I will be able to survive this Camp now. Let alone actually go out there jumping in the sky and performing a wondrous play with a black and white ball.

I am really _happy _to be in this world now. And please took notice of my dearest friend, sarcasm, in that previous sentence.

We arrived at another door—this one metal—after a horrendously long journey from my initial location. I don't know whether I should be thankful to my Spartan P.E. teacher or not, because the walk wasn't as tiring as I thought it would. And Sanada looked like he would have no complains for another tour.

I gulped. Doors after doors. Who knows what could this one held? Hopefully not into another tiger's den, or maybe worse, a battlefield.

Light shone when we stepped outside. I took noticed of the heat, which is much hotter than the inside, and winced at the abrupt brightness. Then moved my hand to block the blinding sun rays while at the same time scrutinizing the surroundings of my future-home-world.

Somehow, that sounded even more discomforting.

….

Blast it. Everything here is discomforting, disturbing, and unsettling.

Sanada's silhouette moved, and I followed it. Walking a bit behind, I scanned the open field, which had been under careful care, it's mostly likely for soccer. I scoffed. _Everything _here is for soccer. Especially in Inazuma Eleven, according to Youko.

I wasn't a fan of sport, and never will. So it didn't interested me as much when I watched the Inazuma Eleven series. What? They are just junior kids who saved the world using the most popular method for dominating, soccer. Or sakka. Whatevs.

I didn't watched the whole thing though; gave up halfway when the anime started talking in another language, and taking turns into a weird direction (...aliens? Seriously?). But I know enough that this place used these 'superb badass moves' that totally defied Murphy's laws of physics. I've always wondered how they managed that? Anime laws or something? But if there's mysteries, then there will always be a solution to them. One of the rules of life. But I have no idea if this rule is still applicable, specially in an anime world.

Still, it would be a total lie if I said that those techniques weren't awesome. They only needed a good reason on how they made flowers petals to flowed out of the ball as soon as they kicked them. Then I might actually follow the thing until the end, or at least 10 more episodes. I wouldn't know.

However, another problem(s) arose...

Have I started to developed this 'on the wrong track' sickness when I woke up here? Did the bang really damaged my brain that much? So why does I kept rambling on an off-topic reminiscing?! But wait, my knowledge in the Inazuma Eleven series might prove useful now that I'm here. And...speaking of which, what timeline are we in? And where the hell on the globe are we being trapped in? Japan? Am I speaking Japanese? But it sounded like my native tongue, or am I confused enough to not able to differentiate the dialects and syllables of the language?!

Argh! I seriously am going to have my mental health check soon. Do they have a psychologist here? But I don't want others to think I'm insane...nor do I wanted to be stuck running around in my head like this forever.

Hold on, I'm not supposed to worry about things like this! Where did my 'reminiscing' and 'gloomy' moods gone to? I should be worrying about foods, and the destination. And stop getting off the bloody track!

Ahem, as I was saying...

Thankfully, it wasn't a dead-looking battlefield with corpses lied strewn around (go and curse Youta, he let me watch his horror movies collection). I actually thought this place would be more creepy than just a clean field, buildings, and more buildings. Not my fault that my head is screw up that way, if it hadn't become more screw up because of all these transporting...things.

"Hey, Ran! I guess I forgot, but what division are you from? Because each one have their own Lounge and separated buildings, and I needed to make sure that you're not going to get lost under my watch after you had put the effort into asking me nicely." Sanada sent me a challenging grin, to which I return with a small smirk.

"The woman at the place—I think her name was Nishimura?—she told me that I'd be in the Atlantics? Is it far from here?" I asked.

Suddenly Sanada stopped short, he turned to me with a surprise expression; wide eyes and 'o' shaped mouth included. Why was he looking at me like that? Is it something bad...?

Instead, he just gave me a pat on the back ("Oof!") and actually looked like he have sparkles in his eyes. He broke out a Cheshire grin, "Atlantics eh? I think it would be nice to have you around. The others would be surprised, imagine that! You should be prepared to start living with us, I bet you are gonna have a headache after just a week after settling in!"

I blinked in surprise, then started gaping at him. "Wait, you're saying that we're in the same division? The Atlantics?!"

He gave an approving nod. "So are my friends, though some of them would just outright ignore you. But others are pretty much...friendly." Seeing my perplexed look, he quickly add, "When you get to know them that's it. But don't worry, as long as you're not bored enough to go around and pissing them off, you should be fine. Oh, and at least be on your best behavior around them. It's going to be difficult to make friends here if they immediately cast you as weakling. You don't want that," he chuckled as if he doesn't really care.

I sweatdropped. Why do they sounded like a troublesome bunch?

"How many are there in our section?" Just for the sake of knowledge.

He shrugged nonchalantly, "I don't really keep track. But we probably have more than 10 people. Usually we are not that close of a group, not until we have our official team."

"Official team?"

"Our representative team, consisted of 11 members, no benchers. Each division have one. But the team can only be decided by the Master. So far we only have one team ready. They're still working on others though, because of our age differences. But we each are placed in random divisions that are near our age group, so we can at least get to know each other. But enough of that—don't you want to get going already?" He shot me a quizzical look.

Suddenly embarrassed (because it was my questions that started all this info-drilling after all), I dismissed his look, "Well, yeah. I'm hungry now. Where do we go?"

"That way," he pointed to a building to the left. It was about 3 stories high, and looked more like an old villa rather than just a normal dorm where a bunch of unorthodox teenagers lived. The brown bricks were new, so it must have been built recently, and the peach colored paint decorated parts of the building. No balcony, I realized with disappointment, but there was a porch at the front at least. Seemed like a cozy place enough...

"Are all of the division buildings the same thing?" Because I knew that I could easily mistook it for another one if the quote "no one knows you better than yourself" is true.

"No, others have a light blue, beige, slate, and so on. Ours is just a dull brownish-red," Sanada replied, slight disappointment laced his words. "So you won't get lost that easily," he teased. I glared at him. It was creepy how he was starting to read me so well after such a short time.

I marched forward to my future home (funny how that sounded now), while deliberately ignoring the kid behind me. I grumbled under my breath. He had looked serious when explaining the ways of this Camp, now he was a cheerful kid? Sudden 180?

A light tap on my shoulder made me turn towards him fully, with a sharp "What" accompanied with it. He dismissed my moody attitude. "You should loosen up! Let me think...How about a race?" He pointed towards the dorm.

I gave him a sardonic raised eyebrow. "With this short legs? I can't even balance myself well while walking, let alone running. And are you seriously going to run with that burden on your arms?" I gestured towards his skateboard.

He took a thoughtful look at his new... toy? And scratched his head. "True, I'll leave this with others and get it back after I'm done with escorting you to the Lounge," I gave a scowl (do I look like I need escorting anymore?), he returned it with a grin in mild amusement. "Come on! You should meet with others too, they all should be at the field by now." He moved to the direction of the field, where I noticed there were numerous silhouettes standing...doing something. It's too far, and they're too small.

Better meet them now when I have a tour guide at my side or be brave enough to approach them and introduce this wimpy, pathetic self by myself? I debated. First option sounded less troubles. So I quickly catch up to his longer strides.

I didn't pay attention much to the surroundings when we stepped outside, but since now we're practically crossing the field, I surveyed the place. Buildings, of course, aligned to the left of the field. Aside from our little villa, there was the largest building next to it, which was built by concrete from the look of it. The other smaller ones lined up next to it like repeating waves. On the other side, though, benches lined up near the edge of the field. There was a nice, supported ceiling for shade on the sunny days. Trees also added some touch to the finished picture.

Rather plain, but I liked it. I was never the fancy type anyway.

When we were closer, I could make out the shapes of the...kids? Yeah, kids. Honestly, I really am should _not_ be surprised by this anymore. But there are probably be more things to be surprised about; such as the two girls who are glaring menacingly at each other. They don't look intimidating, because of their sizes, but with the murderous aura they emitted, they could easily passed as two serial killers themselves. There was a soccer ball near one's foot. I immediately deduced that this will involve that black-and-white round ball—in whatever ways. One can even kill another with that thing, too. I definitely shouldn't be surprised if those two girls intended to do just that.

Sanada, though, looked as if an apocalypse is about to descend this field.

"Oh crap," he cursed just before he broke into a sprint towards the little crowd. I stared at the little assembly curiously, then quickly scampered after him.

"Oi! What's going on?" He yelled, all the while shorten the distance with his strides (I managed to follow him awkwardly—I still wasn't use with the balance yet!). One of the kids in the group—a girl—turned, saw, and answered him.

"They—" she pointed towards the two, "got into a fight. Something about who is better at Forward. Mer was frustrated, so she challenged Yusa for a game. It's just about to start though." She summed it up nicely enough.

Sanada nodded appreciatively after the entering the circle, "Thanks, Aira. But how come Suishou agreed to it? Normally she would ignore those kinds of challenge. What happened?"

The ruby haired girl shrugged, "I think it had something to do with a bet? Not sure."

"Yes it is! And poor Mer had had a pretty rough day too. Nobody wanted to be involve in a conflict, so no one dared to interfere. Part of it is also because how those two are acting, too," another one chimed in.

My eyes shifted to the one who just spoke. The voice had been cheery and light hearted, so I'm not surprised to see a girl smiling at us (Nope, after this whole ordeal is over, I'd be immune to surprises popping up constantly. Haha. Very funny). The girl who spoke had her hair in a ponytail, the cheerful face, and stars as her accessories. How fitting...

But her appearance and attitude were a punch to my gut.

She looked, and perhaps acted, just like Shio. But it wasn't her. The girl standing before me have green eyes, Shio's was a light brown. I knew, but there was a knot in my stomach, as if there was something..._unsettling_ about this strange fact.

They looked too similar. I swallowed the lump in my throat. And Shio loves stargazing, obviously, the girl likewise seemed to shared the same interest.

Sanada arched an eyebrow, "Can I ask what _really _happened? Not just some vague stuff in another language I don't understand?"

This time, another—much calmer—voice interjected, "No one here knows, so please don't push them, Sanada-san. We just got here when we heard a commotion, and Meredith-san was talking about something involving a bet, but no one knows its origins. And we need to stop them soon, or else..." the voice trailed off as the whistle blew, signaling the start of the competition.

I looked at the two people who are the center of attention. Both have raven dark hair, but the distinctive differences was that one have locks of white hair while the other looked downright pissed off. Both sides were previously glaring at each other, but now they animated at the loud _wheet _of the whistle, blew by another kid dressed formally as if he was about to attend an important ball.

I watched, fascinated. One moved, the other dodged, a twirl, and a heading, an interception, a trap—soon it became like a dance. Waltz? Tango? The ball between their feet moved like a dance partner, as if it knew where to land and bounce. Despite being at a disadvantageous size, they both showed no signs of discomfort other than their dislike toward each other.

"They weren't chosen as a Forward for nothing," the calm girl who intervened from before commented. I turned to her, confused. "'Chosen?'"

She blinked as if realizing that she had just spilled her thoughts out loud, but the ruby haired girl from before spoke, "So you're the new one? Well, after our first few weeks of training, the Aged—you know, the grown-up teens—came and inspect our abilities. After that, they told you what kind of position would suit you best, and then they make adjustments to your training menu. Like me for example, I'm more fit to be a midfielder with my strengthened endurance, so I was told to start practicing dribbling. Haven't master it yet though." She gave a laugh at the last part.

I cocked my head. Oh. So nearly everything here really was decided by the adults (or Aged, I don't really care) after all. But those two girls who are competing over there were chosen for the same position, and now they're fighting to who's the best. I wondered if the Aged predicted this beforehand?

"They're soooooo going to be in trouble. Seizan, well, he probably won't even if he's doing the referee, lucky bastard...But both Suishou and Mer will definitely be in for one hell long lecture if they're caught," Sanada muttered.

I peered curiously at the two girls in the field. The one who looked pissed off earlier was saying something, but I can't make out what with the cheering of the crowd next to me. The 3 girls who explained the situation to us now simply watched on and make no comments. Sanada was nervous, I could tell when he's standing next to me.

Both of them were closed to the goal now, still dancing and struggling for the ball. At one point, the ball suddenly burst into flames in the air, and I watched with interest now. I knew immediately that it was a hissatsu. However, it was a hissatsu directly to the goal. And the other girl was too close to it for comfort.

My eyes widen, horrified.

She can't dodge that.

The white/black-haired girl then jumped and flipped backward, a loud cry of "Blazing Ball" left her lips. But I was afraid that the other one would get hit.

Almost stupidly and instinctively, I shouted, "Watch out!"

The girl in the air glanced in my direction, spotting my distressed face. For a moment, she looked absolutely stunned. There was a distant gaze in her eyes before she quickly composed herself.

But it was too late.

The flaming ball was already flying at the other girl, who looked completely horror-struck.

**XXX**

* * *

**Published: **May 25, 2013.

I'm really sorry for the delayed of the update. You know, I started writing this story in the middle of the oh-so-important week, which is full of Exams. Mainly to get the stress out of my system. I didn't expect that I'd have an absolute-must-pass Exam, nor did I expect that I'd collapsed with a fever. ._. Haha. But hey! This time the chapter is long; 16 pages and +7000 words! I've never wrote so much in my life, and I'm having a little proud moment here. XD So pardon me for a bit. OCs might be OOC, but I took whatever I understand and applied it. So if there's mistakes, PM me privately.

(The funny thing is when you're in the middle of writing the chapter, and you suddenly couldn't tell the differences between 'don't, do, doesn't, didn't.' So, sorry for the mistakes there.)

I'll tried my best to be consistent with my updates. Otherwise, only one more OC for the team is needed! :D Constructive criticisms are welcome, and I hope that I didn't bored anyone to death...

-Loretta.


	4. Why the Questions?

**A/N: **And you have a new update after all those weeks of waiting! So this is basically the birth of this chapter: Write, edited, let rot for a few days, re-edit, unsatisfied, delete the whole chapter, re-write, edited, let it rot, and re-edited. I'm officially going to plummet whoever's head if he/she dare utter the three words that "writing is easy." The nitwits most likely don't even know what they are talking about. -_-

Anyhow, don't let my little ol' self stop you for reading. Enjoy! Oh, and you have permission to slaughter me after this chapter.

* * *

_Inazuma Eleven __© Level-5_

_..._

___Through Space and Time ____© Loretta Fiorella_**  
**

* * *

**CHAPTER FOUR :**

Why the Questions?

* * *

I poked my head out cautiously, darting my eyes back and forth, searching. There was nothing labeled as "Dangerous," thankfully, so I let myself tasted a bit of relief, and tiptoed out of my room—silently.

This part was the first step to initiate the operation. If I fail, all the hard work would gone down to drain, and the time spent brooding meticulously over the perfection of the plan would gone to waste. I couldn't allowed that to happen. Definitely not.

Hence, with utmost care and caution, I gripped the paper tightly in my hand, glancing at it once a while to make sure that I'm on the right path, and proceeded to walk (like a ninja!*cough*) down the eerie, soundless hallway (the resistentialism that the hallway exerted was creepy itself).

**OPERATION X-645: COMMENCED.**

** -Figure out a damn way to get out of this place. P/s: Without being caught.**

"Almost there..." I muttered to myself, reaching the end of the hall. Judging by the paper, I was supposed to turn right, then a left. So I did, with a little sense of pride swelling at the pit of my stomach that perhaps, _perhaps, _the operation can run smoothly—just as planned.

Just to caught a pair of light blue eyes staring.

Whatever sense of accomplishment in my stomach dissipated completely.

…

I twitched.

**OPERATION X-645: FAILED.**

Oh Fate, sue me, will ya?

Geez, whatever. I ought to get used to this soon. Because I have a feeling that this will most likely occur more often in the future. Call it gut feeling, which I found myself hating.

It was the girl from before, in the showdown with another girl for a bet, or something. With her white locks cascading to her shoulders, and black hair that rested contentedly on her back. Adding with her sky-colored eyes and her chibified look, she would have looked absolutely adorable. Except that those eyes held much more wisdom than a child could possibly possessed. Proof that she, too, had been reincarnated. But there was something else, as well. It wasn't just the skeptical (probably directed at my sanity), confusion, bewilderment, and amusement looks. There was a hardened edge to it, as if she had gone through a lot. A little part of me was curious, but it wasn't my business.

"Hi." I greeted awkwardly, plastering a plastic smile on my face. While my pose—one hand on the wall, another clutching the paper, a foot in mid air, another tiptoed on the ground, plus a look screaming "Please help this poor peasant girl!" on my face—still frozen in place. Of course she would questioned if my sanity still intact, which I have no idea how to answer myself.

Instead of greeting me back, though, she fired her question. "What are you doing?"

Her tone was mostly curious, but there was a trace of amusement in it nonetheless. Yet her face remained the same—emotionless. Apart from the things that I don't know about her (Heck! We just met yesterday), I at least knew that she was excellent at keeping her emotions at bay.

Soooooo...how to answer her question...

**OPERATION X-645 VERSION 2: COMMENCED. **

** -Conjure up a believable (not lame) excuse.**

I smiled, though it turned out more of a grimace, and racked my head for an explanation. "Weeell..." I drawled lazily, buying time. "I'm...uh...practicing my...er...ninja skills? Yeah! That's it!" I laughed, with more force to it than necessary, and glanced at her apprehensively. She looked, well, normal with her expression unchanged, but she clearly was curious for the details of my explanation.

**OPERATION X-645 VERSION 2: FAILED. **

Smooth. _Real_ smooth, Ran. You've just doomed your own fate. Now the purpose of hiding that you're as clueless as an ant underneath a pouring sky in terms of navigating had completely left doomed to meet its end. Not to mention that the operation had ended so swiftly in mere 4 seconds. Bravo.

My smile now just a tilt of the lip. I could almost _sense_ a cloud of depression looming above my tiny form, it gradually got darker with a few thunder here an there.

But I made no move to dig deep into the matter. For as long as I don't utter anything unnecessary, no one would try to turn the table against me. And not saying anything is always better than useless lies in these kinds of scenarios. Plus, knowing myself, my mouth would just get me into trouble. So I stubbornly kept my silence.

She acknowledged my answer with a dip of her head. "Well...good luck with your...ninja acting skills, then," she said. Might I add something? I never mentioned anything about acting.

An awkward silence.

I've long given up on my pose and now shuffling my feet silently. Eyes darting behind my shoulder longingly, and my legs itched to just bolt away from this suffocating air. _Come on, _I pleaded, _say something! Anything!_

Silence still.

With a defeated and resigned look, I parted my mouth to utter a quick goodbye, and my legs readied to bolt. But the girl beat me to it. Unexpectedly.

Well, that was a help.

"Have I met you somewhere before?" She inquired.

I quirked an eyebrow, what kind of question was that?

"The last time I check, you and me met at the field, when you played against another girl. Yesterday. And then we were dragged to the office to received a lecture by a stern-looking Health Advisor. Though we endured the tortures separately," I narrated the series of events incredulously.

True, when the flaming ball was about to hit its unintended target, another ball came and collided with the thing, effectively making the hissatsu to loses its power. And turned out, the person who shoot it was a pissed off Health Advisor in her petite skirt and purple shirt, in addition with a black vest over it. She swiftly took full advantage of her position and calmly ordered the kids like a teacher scolding the naughty students to scamper off the field. While at the same time commanded the two girls who mattered and myself, who charged guilty because she somehow unknowingly distracted the player, to come to her office, pronto. Each of us have a session of torture to our own, and mainly based on "According to the Rules, you are not allowed to hold an unauthorized competition by your own wills" or "Fightings are encouraged to be _off the campus_; meaning that here at this camp, you cannot fight in any ways." That's the idea.

But to me, she had said with an underlying tone filled of threats. "As concerned as you might be, a distraction to a player's concentration can easily ends in a disastrous outcome. If I hadn't interfered, Meredith could have suffered some damages and required a hospital visit. Please keep that in mind." Since I was a newbie, she let me off the hook. But that wasn't the end of it, I mused, the conversation had taken a different direction during the span of 10 minutes. The conversation was not one I'd like to have during that time, and the day was too much of a wild ride.

The girl—Yusa, was it?—shook her head negatively. Her eyes a piercing blue, "That wasn't it. I wanted to know if we had met before, in the past life."

I stared openly at her, debating my choices. Why the hell would she wanted to know _that? _Sure, she can be curious. But what triggered her question? I don't remember a thing about meeting her before woken up _here_. And then, I remembered a particular part from the conversation with the Health Advisor. A warning, or an advice. I don't know which. But at the end of our long talk, she had warned about this topic we are talking about.

"_...refrain from letting people know that you possessed your knowledge of the past. Ignorance will serve you well in the future. You trust no one with your secret, there will be less burdens to carry."_

_Bewildered, I exclaimed, "But someone already knew that I have a past!" The boy who guided me, Sanada._

_She scrutinized me with a solemn gaze, I fidgeted nervously in my seat. With a soft voice, almost a whisper, she said thoughtfully, "Then don't add oil to fire. Don't worsen the damage. If you truly understand the pain, then it will be to your own benefits to listen to my advice."_

I didn't have a slightest idea of what she was thinking, nor why am I obeying her words. Actually, scratch that. I do have an idea for the 'why.' Since she has lived here far longer than I have, therefore have more experience in these kinds of things, so why not? And besides, her expression, her presence, was too serious; too sophisticated to comprehended. I would have stay low and follow her orders even if we were in a different circumstance. Now though, I should deal with the problem at hand first.

…

Silence would not be considered as lying, right? Hiding, yes, but not as bad as lying.

"That's...why would you want to know anyway?" I shot another question back, quickly changing the subject, hoping she won't notice.

She did though, when she furrowed her eyebrows. She remained contemplative for a moment, deciding how to respond to my tactic of diverting her attention. I made an effort to keep my face straight, just like hers, and hastily hid my emotions as best as I could—which I'm sure wasn't much.

"You...reminds me of someone," she said slowly, carefully, as if she wasn't certain herself. "Before, when I was about to kick the ball, I heard your voice, and there was something tugging at my head at that time. I was closed to remembered something, but by the time I realized what I was doing, the ball went straight at Meredith instead of the goal behind her—which was my intended target. Why?" She asked.

I blinked, more confused than ever. "Don't you know?" I asked instead.

She shook her head. After seconds of considering, she stopped pursue the matter. "What's your name?"

"Er...Fukuzawa Ran...?" I was suddenly on the defensive side.

"Ran...Ran..." She muttered to herself, she looked like she was struggling to solve...whatever problem she has. I'm tempted to just run away from this strange situation; how did I landed here again? And what's with my name being repeated? Too many questions for a peaceful morning.

"...Ran...Sanada..." A deep frowned marred her face—the first expression that I've seen her wear ever since we have our conversation. But Sanada? As in, Sanada the Tour Guide from before? Since when was he got dragged into this?

"Uh..I'm sorry, but I really need to go now. So..." I said, taking a step back. "See ya!" And run for it. Though it was an awkward run with the stumblings. I didn't look back to see if she heard me or not. I just ran, and it was oddly refreshing after being forced to learn the ways of this Training Camp.

I frowned.

Though they had given us much freedom, it still felt like a cage. The bars were made up of strict rules and the surrounding greenery. But in a different perspective, the bars are here as a shield—a barrier which separated us from the harsh world. And besides, we were allowed to do whatever we wanted, as long as it had nothing with breaking the Rules—the restrictions weren't even that harsh. In addition, judging by the map, they have almost everything a teenager ever needed. From the basic necessities to the unnecessary entertainments. It was like a Utopia. A modern one.

Yet...

I pursed my lips.

Then why?

Why the supposed happiness does not come?

**XXX**

"_What do you mean?" My voice sharp, and I glared hard at the woman before me._

_Inhale. Exhale. Breathe. Breathe. Ran, you better keep yourself in check. Don't lash out. Do _not _lash out._

_She seemed aggravated, but kept her composure. "Like I stated before, you'll have to deal with the regulations. Keeping this place orderly is one of our important rules. If perhaps your peers figured out your past—or even that you know of your past—the things we have worked so hard to build up until now will crumble apart. It will be a pandemonium."_

"_Things?" I asked. "What things?"_

"_Things you do not need to know of."_

_I would have stand and stomp my foot childishly just out of sheer frustration, but the fact that my feet can only feel air prevented it. "It doesn't matter! Sanada already knew, why bother?"_

"_He is a good kid. At least he knows what he's doing. I'll talk to him at later dates if the situation requires it. But not everyone is the same, and one person simply can't stop a scandal from breaking out other than confront it at its root," she replied, too calmly. _

"_So? How does that affect whatever you're working on? For God's sake! How does that have anything to do with me either choosing to keep my mouth shut for the rest of my life or to have my memories erase?! How could that affect anything?"_

"_The ripple effects."_

_I stopped for a moment. The ripple effects...? What does that have anything to do with this?_

"_Every actions have their own consequences," she explained. "Just like how a mere, lifeless leaf can disrupt the tranquility of a lake. But it won't be just a single ripple that will fade, but numerous of them. All unpredictable. They will spread so far because of a single event. _

"_The fact that many here have no memories, how would they feel? When they don't know who they are, yet was given a new identity. When they don't know where they're from, but now allowed to live in a contented place. They don't know their own wishes, nor their own goals. How would they act when someone else have everything they don't have standing in front of them? How would that single emotion be responsible for the events afterwards? Mistakes will only breed troubles." I gritted my teeth at her words, futilely stopping the water from pooling at the corners of my eyes. _

"_Say, if you were to let them know of your past—may it be the setting, time, or the society—it can affect their own memories, because no matter how much you wished against it, we are all connected, and the ripples will form. They can feel the immense pain at the tuggings of flashbacks, which they are not even sure if it's theirs, or simply went into a coma with the possibility that they'll never wake up because of the emotional strain. You cannot control what is out of your hands, so there's no choice but to avoid it altogether," she said impassively._

"_I...I..." I stammered, struggling with my words. _

"_Humans are selfish creatures, even when after they are reborn. They stop at nothing to get what they wanted. And—" She closed her eyes, leaning back against her chair. "—we too are just humans. So I understood your reluctance." _

_Then opened her eyes once again, which now directed to the gray ceiling. "But our choices always left us with something to regret. And it was always our choices that left us with unwanted consequences. Tell me, do you want such things?" Her eyes harbored the seriousness, the sympathy, and sadness as it met with mine. I replied with silence._

_She gave a sigh. "I understand that it is not such an easy thing to let go of something you treasure. But now that you can start anew, would it really be a smart choice to hold onto your past?"_

_I knew she was right. I no longer held any responsibilities as I once have in my past life. But still, making such decision required time. I don't want to forget my family. Not that easy in a short span of time. But who was she to dare suggested that it was best for myself to forget?_

"_You...have no idea." My hands shook with fury, and I glared up at her. "You summoned me here gods-know-how, and start spilling and deciding my life in just a _single _day. Hell, I never say anything about wanting to live. But your goddamn stubborn head just doesn't understand how it would feel! Goddammit! How it would feel my second life—which you _kindly _told me that I better be enjoying it—was already planned by you people! My family had been taken away from me; my life had been taken away right at the time when my opportunities were lying there right under my nose. All of that disappear when I friggin' died! Now all I have left are just my memories, you expected me to give it up willingly?" I shouted, but it still did not ease the heavy weight of loss._

"_I need some time," I said shakily, wiping the tears. I didn't even noticed the salt water which streamed down my face in rivulets, just as I didn't noticed that I was clutching both the armrest and the papers in my hand in a strained grip._

_She nodded, "You'll be grant the time you need for yourself. Though I suggest the option to erase your memories. It should, and it will, lessen your burdens. Unnecessary stress in turn caused strain to your emotional health. For now, though, let's have some drinks." She got up from the table and made her way to grab the mugs from the counter. She took out two little packs, and tear the opening to pour the contents in both of the mugs. There was the sound of water and spoon making a contact with the mug's inner wall._

_I let the comforting _klink klink _to lead me into my thoughts, calming my breathing._

_She is the adult, I told myself, she knows things better than I do. Holding a grudge isn't going to help. She was simply doing her job. It wasn't that she wanted me to feel pain, but it was for my own benefits. So stop being angry at nothing._

Lies, all lies. _A voice in the back of my mind whispered. _

_I was angry at her. I was angry at this world for coercing me into something I'm unwilling to. I was, and still _is, _angry at myself for that one little slip. A slip that turned my life upside down and landed me into another world where I clearly don't belong. If I hadn't slip, I would be sitting and eating in a comfortable silence with Mama. I would be whining about school and see the exasperated faces on the twin. I would be dragging Tarou to an arcade and have him pay for me. I would be over _there, _lying on my own bed in my own room and have a decent sleep. I would—I wouldn't be _here_ trying to direct my anger to someone else and to bunch of papers. I certainly wouldn't be lashing out and regretting for that little slip._

_Immediately realizing where my thoughts had taken me, I hurriedly brushed it off._

Breathe. Breathe.

_To the matter at hand._

_I was provided with two choices: one being to have my memories erase, and according to the Health Advisor, it would be best for me. And two, I have the option of bearing this burden for the rest of my life alone. Which, in retrospect, didn't sounded appealing. But at least it let me kept my treasure._

_But in another facet, to not talk about them which means to forget them. Time will keep flowing, and with nothing to reminds me of my memories, it will all eventually be erase. Even if the memories were not erased by force, then it will be erased by time. Which leads to the same result as the first option._

_So, in overall, the two choices ended up with me being miserable. _

_I buried my head in my hands, discarding the papers on the polished, glass table._

_The mug was suddenly in front of my face. I looked up to her brown eyes, surprised that they were a comforting color, and it was full of concern. "Drink," she said._

_I took the warm mug in my small hands, careful of the weight, and eyed the steam. "Hot chocolate?" I croaked._

_She nodded as an affirmative, then I took a sip. Hot chocolate in a hot day. Strange. But the intense air conditioner made up for it. It wasn't that delicious, but it was enough to ease my thirsty throat. I took a longer sip, and wipe the excess with the back of my hand._

_I sighed, eyeing the papers that lay strewn on the table in front of me. They were given to me by the Instructor, but I had almost forgotten its presence, since I was busy comprehending the...facts, and the wrinkle pages were of my doings. Besides all these problems, I'd very much like to divulge myself into something else to take my mind off Camp and whatnot. Of course, as hungry as I was, the first thing that popped into my head was to eat. Foods right now would be good._

_There was no harm in asking._

_But before I could barely form a coherent question, darkness swept over me, and my body was rendered useless. I was tired, very tired, more than from before. My eyelids weight pounds, and I could feel them drooping. Panicked, I searched for the Advisor. To see her stared calmly back._

"_Rest," was the only thing she said._

_I slumped back in my seat, which now feels more comfortable than the bed back in my room, and my fingers loose around the handle of the mug. My eyes was already closed by the time the mug created a loud _thud _on the carpet, and the_ splash _soon followed after._

Won't the hot chocolate leave stain on it?

_I felt something pricked on my arm—like an ant bite—as my consciousness slowly slip away into darkness, and an echo rang loudly in my ears..._

Injection.

**XXX**

It was a miracle that I didn't get lost, let alone finding the Lounge. Knowing my navigating skills equals zero, it was something worth to gaped about. No kidding. Give me a map when hiking, just don't be mad that you ended up on a beach.

…

Well, I exaggerated a bit, but that's the point.

So, it's a good thing for the day to brood about.

Not caring whoever is in the room (woah, this place is more of a mansion than a villa now), I dashed toward where the plates are as I set my eyes on them, and began filling it with those heavenly-smelled breads. I grinned when my hungry stomach grumbled in agreement. Soon I ended up with two full plates and immediately wolfed it down. Not ladylike, but why would that stop a hungry girl from eating?

Now that I think about it, Sanada did said that he'd wait for me in the Lounge. I scanned my surrounding, nope, not a sign of that brown hair boy. He probably fed up with waiting and went somewhere. Speaking of which, how long had I been asleep?

...

Er, who cares when you have foods in front of you?

...But poor him. The sleep was worth it, though. I was emotionally, mentally, and physically (not quite) exhausted from yesterday's events.

I'm in no mood for brooding right now. So I locked anything that alluded to the events and the memories from yesterday in a safe, closed door.

I gulped the juice and sighed contently. Finally having a break from all that headaches. Even if I prided myself to be a good listener, too much was still too much.

Anyway...

The foods seemed to be appropriate for breakfast. So it must be morning. _Tick tick. _Ever since that woman drugged me in her office and until the time I woke up in my room—_tick tick—_(or at least I assumed it is), I must have slept like a log for at least half a day.

...Whoopsie. No wonder I was starving. _Tick tick._ But I must be more exhausted from the emotional stress to be able to overslept. _Tick tick. _Usually I'm an early riser, or at least back in the days, I wonder if that habit is still there? _Tick tick. _My mood then turned sour. Dammit, shouldn't have think about the past. It's making me homesick. _Tick tick_—for Pete's sake! What in the bloody hell is with that ticking?! Hello! Someone is trying to think here! Or more like reminiscing...but still thinking!

I turned to the direction of the sound, scowling. "Why..."

To see a girl. Daydreaming, from the look of it. Her orange hair was very _attention-grabbing, _so it was hard to miss.

"Can you please stop?" I asked politely. But it wasn't enough to hide the fact that I was irritated.

That snapped her out of her thoughts. "Oh, I'm sorry for disturbing you," she said automatically, and blinked, as if she didn't even have control over her own speech. To be honest, I think she might've looked a little lost there. What was she thinking about?

I gave her a nod of acknowledgement and went back staring at the empty glass.

Quiet.

….

Silence.

….

Boredom.

….

Gah! I can't take this anymore!

Turning so I could face her directly to where she's sitting, and she's the only human beside myself in the room, so that made her my victim. I struck up a conversation.

"So..what's your name?" I winced at my tone, which was rather rude. You go Ran, what a nice way to ask a person for their name. I cleared my throat and tried again hastily, "I mean, my name is Ran. Sooo...what's yours?" …As if that's any better. I should get some etiquette classes now that I'm here.

She smiled at my effort. "It's alright," she said, reading my mind. Often times I wondered if my face was like an open book...? "My name is Sakuraba Noriko. It's a pleasure to meet you."

I nodded, "Right, nice...to meet you too."

And the silence once again took its place.

Depress sigh.

"So, Saku...Sakuraba-san, where are the others? Shouldn't they be here?" My second attempt at a casual conversation. Don't blame me that I'm not used to it. Usually Tarou, Youko, Youta, and Shio were the only friends I have, so being comfortable around them didn't took much persuasive efforts. Shio was the talkative one, so we left her do the talkings every time. I never bother making friends out of my circle anyway. There was no need to do so.

"Noriko is fine," she smiled reassuringly. "Most of the others already went to the Center for morning sessions, it is rather late, after all."

Surprised, I asked, "Aren't you supposed to be heading there too? Are you really planning to be late?"

She shook her head, "I'm waiting for a friend." Then she frowned, "But she's late."

The timing was perfect, as a loud scream followed her words. Then there was a resounding _thud _as something heavy made contact with the floor. I arched an eyebrow at Noriko questionably, not sure whether to feel alarm or amuse at the "Oww..oww" from the hallway.

"You know Akemi-san, you never strike me as clumsy," Noriko called out.

"I'm not," a voice grumbled back, "I'm sleepy, are you going to blame me for that?"

"No, of course not. But we're going to have some lectures later because you overslept. At this rate, we'll be 7 minutes late if we are not leaving right now."

"Alright, alright, I'm coming!" The girl stumbled into the room, holding her head. I recognized her as the one whom I conversed with yesterday at the field. And also the one who reminded me so much of Shio. But Shio is now in the past.

"Ouch," I said sympathetically, half wincing at the red spot on her forehead and the other half was for the darn truth.

The girl nodded absentmindedly, she too winced, "Yeah, ouch." Then abruptly turned to my direction. I flinched involuntarily. "You're from yesterday!" She pointed at me, beaming.

I held my hands up, having an urge to defend myself. "Err..yeah. I get that quite a lot. Fukuzawa Ran, at your service."

She grinned, and dashed towards me to give me a fearsome handshake. "Nice to meet you! My name's Akemi Hoshi! Let's be good friend from now on!" she said excitedly.

I spared a confused glance to the orange head's direction, but her expression was becoming more darker by seconds. "Er, nice to meet you too. But I think we should get going now. I don't want to be late on my first day for...whatever it is we are doing," I said quickly.

Akemi's grin faltered for a moment, "Oh...yes. We have Ishiko-san as our Trainer." She grimaced, "We better get going soon, you especially don't want to face two volcano eruptions right this morning." She casted a nervous glance to the other occupant in the room. Smiling slightly, she asked, "How much time?"

Noriko, though, remained perfectly stoic after taking a quick look—now I noticed—at her pocket watch hanging on her neck. "4 minutes," she answered, and stood up. "We'll have to run."

Akemi nodded, grabbing my hand, she dragged me out to the open air.

Now I learned that the Lounge is basically just the same thing as a living room, but much, and I mean _much,_ more grander. _Show-off bastards_. I almost let the comment slip, but bit my lip to refrain from doing so. Though I wondered why we have to run when the building was just _right next to ours. _It shouldn't take long just to get there on time.

I gently pull my hand out of the girl's grip, so she can have more freedom to run rather than dragging me. With Noriko right behind, we entered the massive building, the Training Center, presumably.

…..

Oh.

My eyes slightly widen.

_Oh._

Of course, the inside too have to be huge. The area was spacious, rectangular shape alright, and the blue carpet have a rough texture to it, meant to lessen the injuries if one happens to slip. Numerous mats lie there ready for use, with various colors, creating an interesting impression of a colorful, blue canvas. Other equipments for sports, such as the vaults or the ramps, took up most of the spaces. There was a path _of sparkling _(...the hell?)_, _wooden floor in the middle, dividing the blue carpet into two and lead all the way across the building to another empty region, which was left bare of equipments for space. Basically, it was the epitome of a Gymnastic Training Center.

_Does all this even necessary for just. One. Damn. Sport?_

Hold on, was that a group of kids with an adult on _the other side _of the damn huge establishment?

Well...

Oh crap. No wonder we are running.

Since we were right in the open, some heads turned toward the front door to take in the scene of the three girls who are—quite literally—madly running to their direction. I seriously am not blaming them for staring. I would, too. Still, I would appreciate it much more if they could _kindly _turn their attention to the only adult in their midst, who now took notice of the three running forms.

Double crap.

I could feel my face burning.

"Right on time," Noriko murmured, checking her watch as we halted next to the group.

I almost slump with relief. _T-too close. _Akemi simply flopped down for a little rest. "S-sorry," she said.

Ishiko-san scrutinized us more closely, and I let out a nervous smile at her persistent gaze. She said nothing, but her eyes sure spell "Do not let it happen again." I nodded hastily.

She turned back to the group in front of her, demanding their attention. "We have someone new who will join us starting from today. Introduce yourself." She gestured to me.

I stood straight up and bravely fought the urge to look away from the curious eyes. "M-My..." —_stop the damn stuttering!— _"My name is Fukuzawa Ran. Nice to make your acquaintance," I bit out. Who knew that facing a group of kids can be intimidating just as facing a crowd of adults? What's more, I'm living with them from now on. So, good impression...good impression...

Someone snickered in the background, clearly caught my little slip-up.

I mercilessly squashed down the _need_ to strangle the unfortunate kid right on the spot.

The Trainer maintained her impassive expression, "Very well, then. Those who are willing to be her partner, please raise your hand."

…Partner?

I'm afraid that I was notinformed of this partner-system thing.

I raised my eyebrow at the group. Nope, no hands. Wow, they sure have much confidence in me. Haha. Ready for a year of being a loner, Ran. Correction: _years._

Ishiko-san continued nonetheless, "Those who don't have a partner, raise your hand."

A hand rose up. I thanked the gods inwardly that it was a girl who did. Maybe I wouldn't have to deal with this place for gods-know-how-long alone after all...

"Good then, Meredith, you'll be her partner. Now line up, and make it quick!"

The kids began to scampered around while I stared confusedly after them. "Go with Meredith-san," Noriko whispered before she went after Akemi, who gave a brief wave at me as she went to stand behind a boy; Noriko stood next to her. I moved to where my partner is—she simply casted me a glance and pointed with her chin to the empty spot. I quickly create a distance of one meter to her left, imitating others.

"Warm ups!" came the order.

The kids began to perform certain exercises according to their hidden agenda. Some did it swiftly with amazing grace, others managed to keep up but their poses rigid. I awkwardly mimicked their forms and (no doubt) looked like a duck in the middle of swans lake as others began to switch their positions without warning. Their timing was perfect, except for mine.

The Trainer's eyes were not on me, but I have a feeling that she's asserting my abilities somehow. Though, I really am confident that I had just plunged myself to the bottom of her list in "potential to become successful." If she even have such a list, that's it.

Call it low self-esteem. But in actuality, I'm not faring really well here...no kidding. I clenched my jaws and hung my head low to hide the embarrassing blush, but snapped my head up when we shifted our positions.

Thirty agonizing minutes passed, the "Warm Up" session finally ended. I breathed a sigh of relief and crouched down. And guess what? This was just a simple "warm-up", yet the clothes are clinging onto my skin because of the sweat, and my breathing pattern was getting labored. I let out another exasperated sigh; the dislike for this place was escalating quick and fast. Thankfully, no one spared a glance at me except for Noriko and Akemi, and theirs was full of concern. So it wasn't that bad, yet.

There was always the 'yet' to dread about.

The Trainer called out, "Work with your partner for the fifteen minutes in stretching. Done and then we'll start to practice acrobatics for this week."

Acrobatics...? Like flying in the air and doing poses? _That _kind of acrobatics? This is not soccer anymore. Like, seriously.

I turned to my partner who was now on the floor, arms locked and stretching her shoulders. "Can I ask a question?"

I took her silence as a yes.

"Why do we need to learn acrobatics? It's not like we are applying to work in a circus as professional acrobats." Though the image of ten and below years-old kids doing such dangerous activity was quite amusing. The parents will have heart attacks if they ever witness that scenario. I can laugh at their priceless face and snap a picture or two. But that's not the point here.

"You'll see," was her short response. "Start stretching, the woman is looking this way."

I immediately flopped down and stretched my legs. My eyes looked for the stern woman, who was busy watching another pair, correcting their positions. I scrunched my eyebrows. "She isn't," I said.

"She isn't," she agreed.

I blinked. _I did not just get duped by my own partner. _

…

Nope, I did. Truth is harsh as always.

I huffed, mirroring my position just like hers from before and stretched my arms, feeling some of the joints cracked. Alright alright, she doesn't want to talk. I'm not going to be the bad kid here and bother my partner. Gotcha. I'm unwanted here.

"Stop sulking."

My reaction was instantaneous. "I'm not sulking!"

Unfortunately, that was a bit _too _loud. I flushed at the looks the others are giving me at my outburst. I scratched my head, laughing awkwardly. "Err... I'm sorry..." I said lamely to the audience. I turned back to my partner. "What was that?" I hissed, keeping in mind to have my volume down.

The girl beside me gave a snort. "As funny as you are, your face is getting us into trouble. The officer is coming this way," she said dismissively, completely brushing off my question. And since when did my face got dragged into this mess?

I turned around and true to her words, the Trainer was staring at me. I momentarily forget about the one who caused me in trouble from the get-go.

"I believe," she started, her face impassive, "I never said anything about you chit-chatting in my class nor I ever inquired for a disruptive student. So I ask you: does your actions justified an impending punishment on your first day?" Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

"Er..uh..uhmm...I-I.." How was I supposed to answer that?

"No, she doesn't have to do whatever punishments you're thinking." Surprisingly, a voice spoke up. I noted that it was coming from behind me. "This is her first day in your class, surely that count for something?"

It was Meredith.

I started gaping at her. Sure, I didn't know her that long, and add the fact that we just conversed to each other like 5 minutes ago, I'm sure as hell that she isn't the type for 'kindness.' To support my point, I'm not going to be surprised if the word even existed in her vocabulary.

She matched the Trainer's gaze evenly. Finally, the adult said, "There will be no punishment for her then. However—" Meredith's eyes flashed in annoyance, but it disappeared as quickly as it came—"I expect you to show her the ropes in my class if you so insisted in it." With that, she left.

I was still gaping at her.

She stared at me strangely, "Close your mouth. Thanks to you that I'm stuck with babysitting."

I clamped my mouth shut, and fumed. "What part of showing me the ropes is babysitting?"

She merely rolled her eyes, "Everything. Now hurry up. We have about 7 minutes left to get you to understand on how to do the warm ups correctly."

Now it was my turned to stared at her strangely. "You're weird."

"Thanks for the compliment." There wasn't even a trace of sarcasm in her tone. Damn, my first time meeting a professional.

I huffed, "You're very much welcome. Now, what are we doing again?"

"The warm-ups," she answered shortly. She shifted so that her legs are now at a shoulder length. "We start by jogging, 30 of kicking your butt and another 30 for high knees. 10 jogs in between the switch. This is to get your heartbeat rate up. Remember to keep the pace and don't falter, you'll disturb the timing if you do. The woman expect everything to be precise."

I nodded, I can handle that enough. The problem was to remember both the order and the amount for each exercises.

"Then come lunges, start with your right leg, and switch to the left. We'll do 10 for each leg, which mean 20 in total." I bristled at the implication that I am _not _capable of doing the math myself. "10 scissor kicks and 10 kangaroo jump—"

I cut her off with a question. "Wait, what's with kangaroo jump?"

She stared at me almost as if silently asking a question right back. But then moved her hands behind her head, legs spread, and then she jumped while bending both her upper body and legs, causing her head to almost come in contact with her knee in mid-air. Then she landed (quite professionally, I might add) with her feet back in the ground. I gawked. _I'm supposed to do 10 of _that?! "10 of those, you'll get use to it," she said. Then she quickly explained and demonstrated the rest as many as she could for the remaining minutes.

_Oh. My. Gosh. Not only my head is going to burst ('cause of info overload), but my body ('cause of intensive training) too! I can handle it if I was in my thirteen year-old body (I think), but a six year-old? Are they trying to kill us with _just _the warm ups?! Worse than that Spartan Teach. of mine!_

I let all that out in one big whoosh—

….

—in my head, of course. I'm not yet ready to have another panic attack with the Trainer.

A whistle blew for attention. I don't know if I should dread what's going to happen next or just bolt out of the damn door already. Acrobatic training definitely do _not _sounds too appealing for my taste.

"Why are we even doing something _so _irrelevant to soccer anyway..." I muttered under my breath and straighten up, putting more effort into looking confident than I actually felt.

"We'll simply focus on just trampolining for the rest of the class today." So, trampolining? No walking on a string in the air and no hanging on a swing for my life? No life threatening trainings? Normal enough. So this place hasn't turned into a circus just yet.

I looked around for our main equipment, the trampoline. I figured it must be big, but I didn't see it when I walked—cough—_ran_ in. Maybe because I was in a rush? Oh, nevermind, found it. It was there at the side, near the corner. The area where we are supposed to jump in must be around 6 feet long—width and length wise—and 4 feet off the ground. There was also a safety net around it, so the person inside wouldn't accidentally drop outside of the boundary. Look promising, but I learned the hard way to never judge an object by its appearance.

Take the previous experience for example. The stairs that caused my death was as safe as it could get. But I still died, anyway.

"Get in a line with your partner. We'll go by order," the Trainer instructed, walking towards the trampoline. Kids began to shuffled around. "Your objective is to do jump above 2 feet and a half and land safely on your feet. If you stumble, or fall in any other ways, you'll have two more tries to complete it. But by the third time the attempt proved unsuccessful, you'll have your points debuted, which in turn lessen your chance to be in the representative team." By this time, everyone was in line. I asked Meredith what number we're in, and according to her, we have the number 4.

I've never been on a trampoline all my life, let alone at six. So either this turns out quite an experience that I didn't have the opportunity to enjoy, or outright humiliation in front of others. It was nerve-wrecking. I'd rather be the last to go, maybe the embarrassment would lessen.

The first group went ahead as the name "Seizan Karma" rang loud and clear. I sat next to my partner and watched as he successfully jumped above the 76.2 centimeter requirement, but stumbled when he landed. He quickly regained his balance though. But he have to do it once again, this time with more sureness and grace in it. It was a 'Pass.' His partner was next.

I watched carefully, trying to learn something just by looking. It seemed they focused more on legs power and balance. I tried to analyzed the amount of force needed for a successful jump, and how to landed by the feet. It didn't look like a difficult task, I can do it if I imitated others. For a more better words, it looks _way _too easy. All they have to do is to jump and land by their feet. Yep, nothing to worry about. No need to overthink it.

Though, I briefly wondered why would this simple activity do any help in soccer.

Soon, it was Meredith's turn, which she pulled off in her first try. I momentarily blamed her at the back of my mind for making my turn come so quickly as I stood up from my post. Then walked on the stairs just as she descent. I stopped at edge, and eyed the huge bed warily while shifting my feet before moving forward.

Surprisingly, it was a difficult walk.

Perhaps it was because there was only a black fabric that supported all my weight. But I found that it was more difficult trying not to topple over as the piece of fabric sunk at my every step. I carefully put my feet in front and use the other for balance as I walked, feeling silly. I stood at the center of the circle, creating a depression right at the point, very much having a depressing image as if I was about to fall into a never-ending darkness.

If anybody had told me that I'd be doing trampoline exercise right now, or if I died from a slip on the stairs and awaken in an anime for that matter, I'd have laugh at their face and call them crazy. But alas, here I am now. Everything _still _feels too surreal even as the material sunk beneath my feet, and I stood at the center of the equipment.

I sucked in a breath, and moved.

I slightly jumped up, and down, then jumped again, but with more force to build the momentum. After 4 times of testing and bouncing, I finally get to the real thing. With legs like the tip of an arrow and the center of the bed as the bullseye, I put all my weight down, and with a _thump, _I was propelled upward. The invisible air hitting my face as I fly high, and I forced myself not to spread my legs and arms as if really enjoying the almost nonexistent breeze. The force of gravity soon pulls me down again, but it was high enough for a pass when I glimpsed down to the meter outside of the net.

I didn't count that I would lose my balance as the rough texture of the bed start working its ways.

I landed on my feet alright, but so unused by the new sinking feeling that I stumbled over. The rough fabric clearly wasn't on my side, so it stubbornly sunk at every step I took. Unable to regain my balance as the gravitational force do its work, I gave up trying and let myself fall. However, I hadn't anticipated a hard edge meeting with my head. With a loud _whack _that could possibly serves as an alarm clock, I crumbled down to the bed and leaned against the net.I hissed out in pain (was that...splotches of star?) and rubbed the back of my head; the throbbing pain was the only thing I registered at the moment.

I'm prone to pain, ain't I?

I gritted my teeth, effectively stopping any whimpers and groans coming out of my lips. But it didn't stop a grunt from escaping as I stood up. I eyed the black fabric before me with more hate and wariness. There goes my first chance, two more left.

Once again I slipped and fell, but other than being startled and the aching pain in my head, there were no other injuries. I cursed under my breath. Why was this so hard? The others were able to pull it off as best as they could, and I did exactly as what they did, so why was I any different? I made sure to analyzed, or at least, calculated the timing and force, I should make it work.

But it didn't.

That was the second try, only one last chance. I don't know why I'm determined to pull this off. Was it because I badly don't want to be humiliated? Or was it just a childish act of proving self-worth? I scrunched my eyebrows. There was no reason to proving myself in front of strangers. As for the incoming humiliation, I have no intention of staying here for them to poke fun at me. But then, where would I go if I decided to escape? That Sanada kid said it before; the Camp is surrounded by forest, and some who went in never come back. What are the odds that I'd ever get out alive?

Yet, I have no reason for being here. I don't have a single objective now that the responsibilities from the past had been lifted.

So, what's the point in trying?

**XXX**

I flopped down on the grass with a groan, just right under the shade of a tree as the breeze pass by. It wasn't the sky or the ceiling of a building, but leaves and branches that were in my peripheral field. A tiny wave of relief washed over me—though disappeared as quickly as it came due to the sudden nauseous feeling—because I was beginning to get sick of staying indoors. I flexed my body, feeling the muscles stretched and the sore legs. I could see from the corner of my eyes that Akemi and Noriko had settled to sit against the tree's trunk, both resting from the strain of the training. I wiped the sweats on my forehead with the back of my hand and settled with one arm over my eyes, blocking any distractions. I let the darkness guided me to my safe sanctuary.

I need to think. That was the cue for a million of things to crash my mind.

What am I doing here? I don't have any purpose other than juggling a ball around with a reason _to save my life. _Sitting there being pretty isn't an option either. Thus, from what I've gathered, we are here to train, warding off enemies (if you could call them that), grow up, live, and left. If they really want us to live our second life, why hadn't they let us live a _normal_ life? An orphanage would be good if people questioned a bunch of adults taking care of kids who appeared out of nowhere. At least they would have a rational explanation to give to those who really wanted to take us—_this _organization down. Given the fact that we need the medical technologies to keep us alive, they could've just them to give us in the duration of the time when we are still living with them. There shouldn't be a reason why we need to train. There _shouldn't _be a Camp in the first place.

Why soccer then?

This is an Inazuma Eleven world. Even if I'm not a crazy fan of the anime and only watched at least half the series, I knew enough to recognized why soccer is important at this Camp. Soccer was like the main, dominant factor in this world. Somehow it had become an addicting entertainment for civilians. The happiness kids felt when they gain victory, and the resignation and the feeling of defeated when lost. Soccer was used to decided the important things; sense of pride and protection too was decided upon the outcome of a soccer match.

In a sense, it was like war—a soften version of war—but still war, nonetheless.

For what reason? And why no one even questioned it? There were barely any hostility (aside from the little incident in the Center) or ill intents from what I've seen so far. Unless the Organization provided a pretty good excuse...

I sighed in defeat. Thinking was not good for my little brain; I wasn't born to be the intellectual type. I moved my hands to massaged my temples. "This sucks..." I grumbled.

"You're right on that. And to think we'll have to endure them for years. Years!" I heard a groan following the words. That was Akemi, probably. Seemed like she misunderstood the origin of my words. Oh well. "I feel sick."

I pushed myself up by my elbows and turned to face the duo leaning on the tree. The nauseous feeling was still there, but it was fading away quickly. "How in the world did you even pull that trampoline thing off? I failed all my three tries. Almost thought that the Trainer would start whacking me with a clipboard or something," I asked Noriko, pouting. I knew I had been overconfident back then, and apparently that was a habit from when I was small. So of all things, it followed me to this life too.

"You're not alone," Akemi piped up helpfully. I flashed her a small, grateful grin, and she returned with one of her own. The poor girl looked half-to-death when she was standing on the trampoline. I don't understand why, though.

Noriko shrugged. "The important things were the timing and balance. It wasn't that hard to be still on your feet when you landed on the bed. Try not to move too much, I supposed?"

I shook my head and groaned. "Why are we even practicing trampoline anyway? Seem useless to me." I tugged at the yellow tinted grass.

"For balance," Noriko said, "and flexibility. Most acrobatics training strengthened those two attributes and, in turn, those strengths are necessary for developing Hissatsu. That's why we were being tested on maintaining our balance during the trampoline session."

Heeeh? So the people really does think that far ahead—with Hissatsu and all—huh? Still, the training was seriously odd. Please don't tell me we will begin to learn how to do ballet in the future...

Oh, heck no...

Sensing my upcoming dread, Noriko added in quickly, "We usually do them for a few days and that's it. Too long and it might not be soccer at all. So don't worry too much about it."

"So we will still be doing ballets?" I asked her incredulously.

Both girls stared at me as if I had spoke the taboo words that were never meant to be spoken. "What?"

"Uh, no. I don't think so," Noriko warily replied.

I slumped with relief. "Good. I hate dancing." Especially ballets. My toes won't be able to handle my weight. Oh, come on! Give me a break! I wasn't fat, just for your information, but I wasn't exactly "feather weighted" either. So there.

Akemi laughed. "Any particular reason?"

"Nah, just hate dancing," I said in disgust. "Will there be any more weird trainings in the future?" I asked them. "Just so my heart will be ready if the time comes," I quickly added.

The sided-ponytail girl grinned. "I don't know. I've only been here for three weeks. All I know is that we _do _have those trainings that seemingly irrelevant to soccer. Noriko knows. She's here for 1 year already." Akemi nudged at the said girl with her elbow.

"Wait, one year? That that means you're older than I am?" I pointed towards the orangenette.

She ignored the rude gesture and nodded. "Yes. Right now I'm seven."

I scratched my head. "I thought we were the same age..." It was rather ironic; teenagers in the body of children. The image of kids sitting down chattering instead of gaiety capering around like how they're supposed to sprang into my mind. That had me smiling a bit; it was just like how I used to play pretends. Simply sit down and act the part of the adult with the group back at home.

_Where is home?_

I am definitely getting homesickness.

I crinkled my nose in distaste.

Noriko answered my previous question. "I don't really remember what we did in the past—" she looked apologetic at this—"But the objective always remained as 'improving soccer abilities.' Though we are most definitely going to be challenge in different attributes concerning soccer, such as stamina or mobility, we are also expect to at least sufficiently carry out other kinds of practice. Odds are, we might be asked to do more...weird trainings, as you put it, in the future."

"Swimming, for example," Akemi offered.

Training Camp, where training are top priorities. Fitting for its name, I thought dryly, but also weird alright. Another question struck me, too abruptly that it slipped. "Are we talking in Japanese?"

It came as a surprise for the two. "Uh, yeah? Why?" Bemusement was on the sided-ponytail girl's face.

"Because it sounds like E—eh, nevermind I asked," I brushed it off and turned to the side, biting my lip. Idiot! If I say English, they'd know that I remembered _something. _As much as I hated to admit it, that Health Advisor's words did get to me somehow.

Change of subject, quick!

I sighed, casually leaning on my hands. "And? What are you guys going to do?" At their perplexed expressions, I clarified, "Why are you training? Why are you playing soccer?"

Both of them glanced at each other, unsure whether to answer my question or not. I don't blame them, it was quite a personal question. _So why did I even asked? _I inwardly tear my hair off. It was a spur of moment, so my mouth just couldn't keep shut and decided to let the questions slip without any hindrance. Argh! I really hate it sometimes...

Noriko spoke first, but averted her eyes. "I...don't know," she admitted, "I guessed I'm doing this because I wanted to see the world? Besides, soccer is a good distraction..." Her voice became so low that it was carried away by the wind. I could only caught snippets of it to linked a coherent sentence.

"Soccer is fun! I really want to be good at it and have fun with others. It's not that bad of a sport once you understand the essence behind it," Akemi remarked, and something about her tone didn't sit well with me. But I put it off as my imagination.

"'The essence behind it?'" I echoed.

She smiled, "You'll see."

"Hooohh?" I drawled understandingly. But not understanding—or seeing—anything at all.

Noriko looked thoughtful for a while, contemplating whatever is in her mind. When finally coming out of her rumination, she spoke softly, "There's another thing, too."

I arched an eyebrow, "And that is...?"

She turned her gaze at me, it was a cringe-worthy gaze. I knew it was unintentional, but for some reason it made me want to take back my question as if it was a sweet, scarlet rose. Beautiful, but also dangerous. A double-sided blade.

But being the idiot that I am, I persisted.

"For some, it's different. " She hesitated before continuing on, "There's a rumor, actually, that had been spreading for a while now."

"Rumor?"

"Rumor," she affirmed, "Many people are searching for its source, but as far as I know, no one has yet made any progress."

Okay, this was getting tiring. Why was she beating around the bush? "If this rumor really does floats around like you put it, sooner or later it will eventually reaches me anyway. So just get straight to the point."

She did. "There is a chance to go back; to where we originally belong." Her deep green eyes flickered to mine. I knew—and deep down feared—the tingling hope that begins to bloom at the direction this discussion is going. "If my sources are right, the only way to do so is to be in the Representative team. Considering that no one has understood _why_ the rumor had been born in the first place, we are not sure yet to how this would get us back. But few assumed that there's some sort of advanced technology—a machine—that transported us here. If that is true, then there's a chance—slim as it is—that that machine could get us back."

Akemi was quiet. And even I, who haven't really spent that much time with her, found her silence was too unsettling for her character. I glanced nervously at her, there wasn't a slight change in her expression. But when she caught me staring, she gave a small smile.

I turned my attention back to Noriko. "No concrete evidence?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Not yet."

'Not yet' implies that there's a possibility that anything could happens.

I tried another question. "Why are people so fixate in this rumor? There's still the potential lies in this rumor you spoke of."

This time, it was the (once) cheerful girl who answered. Her smile was bittersweet, and I marveled at how such a small act could raised a thousand questions.

"Because we are all desperate."

The response—short as it is—was enough to satisfy me.

I nodded, acknowledging her answer, and plopped back down to the grass, thus ending our conversation. I shield my eyes with an arm, the other resting on my stomach. The silence settled comfortably on all of us. The disquietude had long since gone.

I understood.

A small smirk found its way onto my lips.

_I understood._

A way to go back, aye? Now that was a news worth of attention. If Noriko is right, then the kids here will allow another helping hands. Well, it was better than the foggy future, at least now I caught a glimpse of the path I am going to take.

_Oh._

Go back I will.

* * *

She sighed tiredly, barely glancing at the files on her table. They were important, for sure, but she didn't have the mind to deal with it right now. She wished she could have a fireplace for her to burn off those papers, so she would have less work, but her office have an automated air conditioner _and _heater. A fireplace in the room would simply served as a mere eye-catching decoration. It wasn't needed.

Instead, she focused her gaze on the chair where the black-haired girl had previously sat in. She had instantly recognized the look in the girl's eyes the moment she digged deep into the dark brown color. She knew then that the child still remembered everything even without looking at the profile, which was given to her by the Instructor not long ago. It was the look that gave the girl away, for it contained the apprehensiveness, wariness, and the knowledge that she's in trouble despite the reassurance that she had failed to notice. There too, was a spark of life in those dark eyes. So being the experienced adult that she was, Soyokaze Rei could not miss it even if she wanted to.

For others, on the contrary, their eyes were dull and dim, those she was used to seeing. She herself had been just the same when she was their age, unable to keep her jumbled thoughts together because she just didn't know how. It sadden her when her own image reflected in those glassy eyes whenever there was a new arrival. She knew they would required much guidance, and she promised that she will be there when they needed her, hence for her reason for remaining here. So in retrospect, she was their Counselor. But in truth, she felt like she was simply a substitute for their parents. As did many other Aged who chose to stay even when they have the chance for a better life. Had she chose the wrong path? Or worse yet, had she made any mistakes just by being here?

No, that was wrong.

Who was she kidding? This was what she wanted. Watching those tiny backs growing bigger as the year passes by and steady them when they stumbled. She was not going to give it up anytime soon.

Then she shifted her eyes to the window, absentmindedly took note of the harsh sunlight that penetrates the room. The view of the window was not at all interesting, it was the same scenery she saw every day. This usual familiarity only served her thoughts to wander once more.

She always offered those with memories a choice even though she knew she could've simply ask the staff at the Hospital to wipe their memories when they are still lying defenseless. But she wasn't that kind of woman. She knew that regardless in the body of a child, their hearts were of a teenager, and that was enough reason for them to decide their fates. To wipe their memories without their consent defeats the purpose of letting them enjoy their second chance. But then again, those memories might as well be the reason for their downfalls. That was why she gave them the choices. To live with or without the extra burdens.

Though after a few meetings, she concluded that maybe it wasn't necessary to do so. Because every time, her offer was always rejected. Some with more violence than necessary. They were set on embracing the challenge and live with it, while keeping her warnings at heart; they thrived to overcome.

Even without her past, Rei knew that one day their falls would be much greater than the ones without their memories. Burdens would always remained as extra heavy package. Those long years as a player, and as a person who gone through the same thing, had taught her as such.

She sighed once again. She regretted it now when she said those harsh things. It wasn't with common sense that she knew the girl (her name was Ran, she believed?) would hate her for it. Teenagers never let people without their respect bossing them around, and Rei knew she had done nothing but stopping a single ball to earn any respect from the black-haired girl.

She smiled wryly, not to mentioned that she injected the substance when the girl wasn't even aware of her doing so. It was an immunization shot, and along with it was a little tranquilizer. Okay, she was guilty now, she hadn't meant to drugged the girl by putting the sleeping pills in the mug and then injected her. But she was bound to collapse sooner or later at the state she was in, so with a bit debating, she decided that she would let her rest. It was already late, too, so the child can't simply barged into a lesson without receiving odd punishments for interrupting the Teacher's speech. Rei shook her head, amused at where her thought had taken her. That man—the Teacher—was always on the rough side. She was used to it.

Besides the earlier encounter, she still have other things to worry about. But she was more curious in the new Master. Or perhaps it was Masters; she have no single knowledge regarding the person with the highest status in the entire Camp. The retirement of the previous Masters was quite abrupt, she thought, and then the new ones came along. They did a good job in maintaining this place, though their decisions in matters were always in a brusque manner. Often she found herself disagreeing with them, but she was just a Health Advisor with little power in the Camp.

She could only do so much.

It was her role to be in the watchlines now that she retired from her position as a player, as painful as it sounds. But she will continue to carry it out just like others who bear the same pain. Whatever those Masters have in their minds, she would let them have it their ways. If it's going to be concerning about the kids, she would then act. For now, she will finish her task at hand and have a talk with the Instructor later.

She eyed the papers before her, then grimaced.

A cup of coffee is always better than paperworks.

**XXX**

* * *

**Published:** June 26, 2013

**A/N: **First of all, I'd like to give a shout-out to **Kusanagi Laevateinn, CutiePieSakura123,** and **Gentle Winter Dreams. **You guys are awesome! XD (Though with you constantly watching my back, it was kinda creepy. But it was comforting nonetheless! :D) Thank you for being there and beating me with your constant drills and online lessons. At least those were better than the websites that rambled things my head couldn't take in. Though I'm sure there are **still **mistakes to be spot in this chapter. -.- I wonder why they're so easy to catch?

Anyway, since I didn't get to do this the last few times, I will do it now.

**SPECIAL THANKS TO:**

SapphireSpade, SHSL Kirino Ranmaru, I1am1the1best, Kusanagi Laevateinn, LovelyShuu, Medicine, LunarLionHeart, ShadowCyclone, CutiePieSakura123, Kitty723, Gentle Winter Dreams, Shiranai Atsune, BlueOceanz1120 (Guest), and aifa. ayunie (your name won't appear all 3 tries! Why?!). Thank you so much for reviewing! You guys are all so special! Group hug, now! (Ack, too many people. But hey, cyber world is awesome for a reason.)

**ALSO THANKS TO:**

_**Favorites**_: DJ Reizu Kariya, FullofStars, Gentle Winter Dreams, I1am1the1best, Kitty723, Kusanagi Laevateinn, SapphireSpade, ShadowCyclone, and XSkyeStarlX.

**_Alert_:** FullofStars, I1am1the1best, Kusanagi Laevateinn, LunarLionHeart, SapphireSpade, ShadowCyclone, Shiranai Atsune, and Skyla15699.

Hugs for all of you too!

I never thought I'd upload chapter 4. Admittedly, I did tried to runaway a few times, but my conscience won't let me. So I typed up this (another crappy...) chapter as best as I could. At the rate we are going, we should meet Raimon in a few more chapters. I'll be able to introduce some of the boys in the next chapter, YES! *fist pumped in the air* Wish me luck!

Aaand...this chapter is over 11,000 words! 25 pages with 10 font size! Hey, at least let me wallowed in some of those 'too proud' moments. But I sincerely hoped that I didn't bored anyone with this chapter ( I probably did, though. *shot*). Should I even continue writing this...? "OTL

I said what I remembered I'm supposed to say. Other things will come later. Now, just like Ran, but instead of the heavenly-smelled bread that made you hungry, I found the black keyboard so tempting...Damn those insomnia attacks...

Cough.

I'll reply to PMs and reviews tomorrow morning! Actually, evening. My sleeping schedule is out of whack. So if there are any mistakes, well, I don't know, do what you want...?

**Leave a review!** Or at least, leave a sign if I should continue this thing.

-Loretta.

P/s:

To _BlueOceanz1120_: I'm afraid I can't accept your OC if the requirements does not meet. You still left some spots open. I'm sorry. ^^"


End file.
